On November 12, 2024, The Hague Court of Appeal found in the case Millieudefensie vs. Shell that the Shell Group has an obligation to counter dangerous climate change. However, the Court was not able to establish that the...more
12/5/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
In this article, we provide an overview of country-led and private sector-driven key developments surrounding the recent United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16). The world is progressively recognizing that biodiversity...more
11/15/2024
/ Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Contaminated Properties ,
COP ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
United Nations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently took two significant actions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
First, it issued final National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) for six PFAS...more
The regulatory environment for influencing and funding political players in Germany has been changing rapidly in recent months. On 1 March 2024, the revised Federal Lobbying Register Act (Lobbyregistergesetz; LobbyRG),...more
Exciting times for hydrogen market participants in Germany – in the last months, a variety of new regulatory instruments and policy initiatives have been announced which will boost the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in...more
3/28/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Electricity ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Germany ,
Global Market ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Oil & Gas ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda
U.S. Customs authorities impounded thousands of vehicles, showing risks to imports linked to forced labor. The U.S. government detained thousands of luxury vehicles deemed to contain a small electronic component sourced from...more
3/28/2024
/ Automotive Industry ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Enforcement ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Forced Labor ,
Imports ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
Sanctions ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Are regulations across the lifecycle of a low-carbon infrastructure project helping or hindering the transition? What structures helping the route to Net Zero have been introduced so far? In which fields is work still to be...more
3/11/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Reform
Creating an effective regulatory framework will be critical to deliver Net Zero. But does that mean more – or less – regulation?
From trade agreements to taxonomies, carbon adjustment mechanisms to corporate sustainability...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Economy ,
Global Market ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
United States
Who has to comply with the Regulation? The Regulation only applies to EU person exporters who are selling, supplying, transferring, or exporting the targeted goods (including aircraft) to third-country counterparts outside of...more
In light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UK and EU, in close collaboration with their G7 partners, have continued to exert economic pressure on Russia through an array of sanctions.
In this bulletin, we...more
On 24 January 2024, the European Commission (EC) published its proposed reform of foreign investment screening in the EU. The proposal introduces more comprehensive rules for the review of foreign investments and strengthens...more
1/26/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Dual Use Goods ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Greenfield Projects ,
Indirect Investors ,
International Harmonization ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
New Regulations ,
Research and Development ,
Risk Assessment ,
Semiconductors ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Technology Sector ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
The European Commission (EC)’s third annual report on EU foreign direct investment (FDI) screening covers the operation of the screening mechanism in 2022. Together with a Commission Staff Working Document, it details...more
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU that could distort competition in EU markets.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new suspensory notification...more
On 21 September 2023, the German Parliament passed the heavily discussed German Federal Act on the Increase of Energy Efficiency (Energieeffizienzgesetz – EnEfG) that aims at significantly increasing energy efficiency...more
Most of the provisions of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) take effect on 12 July 2023. The European Commission (EC) has also now adopted its long-awaited Implementing Regulation (IR), which contains the notification...more
G7 governments continue to seek ways to increase the effectiveness of their sanctions on Russia by clamping down on sanctions circumvention....more
In April 2023, the German government proposed new legislation that aims to significantly increase energy efficiency requirements for buildings, companies and data centres. The government’s proposals to ban fossil-based...more
Recent policy and regulatory developments have shown that governments and businesses around the world are increasingly focused on consolidating their competitive positions in the green industrial revolution. Significant...more
The EU emissions trading system (the EU ETS) is one of the key pillars of the EU’s policy to combat climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from regulated sectors....more
Impact on public procurement procedures.
The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was published on 23 December 2022. It will take effect on 12 July 2023 and provides for mandatory notification requirements from 12...more
In recent years, both European and German legislators have been promoting the expansion of renewable energy both by creating a favourable legal environment and by facilitating public funding of renewables of all kinds – wind,...more
To mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and the UK, in parallel with other G7 members, released a new round of sanctions against Russia. In this bulletin we provide a high-level...more
On 6 February 2023, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation on a draft implementing regulation (IR) which sets out procedural rules relating to the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)....more
At the close of 2022, and with the war in Ukraine entering its tenth month, the EU and the UK adopted further sanctions packages against Russia.
The latest sanctions packages include further asset freezes, an EU...more
With a ninth sanctions package against Russia in the making, the EU’s sustained response to the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that sanctions will remain at the forefront of EU policymaking. The array of sanctions adopted...more