What do businesses need to know, and how can they prepare?
Introduction -
On June 25, 2025, the UK government initiated a consultation (the Consultation) on the exposure draft of the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards...more
7/30/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
UK
As the 2025 AGM and reporting season passes its peak, we have produced a note of our reflections on what we’ve seen in the market so far this year, and developments we’re expecting in the coming months.
The key themes...more
6/23/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FTSE ,
Global Market ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Remuneration ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
UK
The EU’s sustainability reporting and due diligence landscape is in flux following the European Commission’s adoption of its highly anticipated Sustainability Omnibus package in late February 2025.
In recent bulletins, we...more
5/16/2025
/ Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
Sustainability
The European Commission formally adopted its proposals for amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) in late February 2025, as part of its highly anticipated sustainability Omnibus package. In this...more
3/10/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability
More competitiveness, more coherence and less administrative burden – these are key political priorities for the new European Commission (the Commission) which took office last December. One of the earliest moves under the...more
1/17/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
This is an update to previous bulletins on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) which we published in June and September 2024.
In a decisive move that marks a new chapter for corporate...more
12/17/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Member State ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
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
We were proud to provide market-leading expertise and legal support to the secretariat of the Transition Market Finance Review. The review explores how the U.K. can become a leading market for transition finance domestically...more
We were delighted to host the U.K. Transition Finance Market Review’s (TFMR) flagship event at New York Climate Week, in partnership with the City of London Corporation who host the TFMR secretariat. The session offered a...more
Sustainability reporting and disclosure can bring many benefits, including greater transparency and increased accountability. But unless coupled with, and closely tied to, the implementation of a clear business strategy for...more
How to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy is a hot regulatory topic for most major economies around the world – and is set to continue ascending the agenda in the years to come. As sustainability-related...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Capital Markets ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Reform ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Market ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
UK ,
United States
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
The road to decarbonisation -
From the copper belts of Zambia and the lithium and cobalt deposits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the manganese mines in Gabon, the African continent holds much of the promise...more
2/6/2024
/ Africa ,
Batteries ,
Clean Energy ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Infrastructure ,
International Energy Agency (IEA) ,
Investment ,
Lithium Batteries ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mining ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Last year, we wrote about ClientEarth’s application to the High Court of England and Wales for permission to bring a judicial review claim, alleging that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unlawfully approved the IPO...more
1/18/2024
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Judicial Review ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new package of sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and investment labelling rules is a key pillar of the UK government’s efforts to introduce an economy-wide SDR regime. All...more
12/20/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Greenwashing ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
The UK has finally confirmed that it will be following the EU and introducing its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to be implemented by 2027.
It published the eagerly awaited outcome of its consultation on...more
The FCA has issued the final version of its rules for stage one of the UK’s new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements or SDR, together with its new ESG product labelling regime. The rules are detailed and complex. The new...more
The FCA has issued the final version of its new anti-greenwashing rule – part of a package that includes additional rules as stage one of the UK’s new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements or SDR, plus the FCA’s new ESG...more
We recently hosted an event as part of our Sustainable Transition seminar series titled “Tax incentives for sustainable investments: where are the opportunities?”. In this article, our panellists set out some of the key...more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its final Green Agreements Guidance on how UK antitrust rules apply to green cooperation agreements between competitors (UK Green Guidance).
The UK Green Guidance...more
10/19/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Waves of reform to sustainability reporting regimes are only beginning and will gather pace. Much has happened since the first two Sustainability Disclosure Standards were published by the International Sustainability...more
The EU Regulation establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is designed to drive businesses to achieve a true global reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions instead of relocating carbon-intensive production...more
10/3/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Importers ,
International Trade ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Taxation
The Commission has launched a far reaching consultation and review of SFDR, long expected by the industry. This bulletin provides an overview, as well as giving thought as to what we might see in terms of SFDR 2.0....more
9/25/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
UK
There are useful takeaways for EU and non-EU firms arising from the European Supervisory Authorities’ (ESA) latest thinking on greenwashing. In June 2023, the ESAs issued progress reports examining greenwashing risks and...more
7/27/2023
/ EIOPA ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Greenwashing ,
Insurance Industry ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings are increasingly used by investors, lenders and regulators to assess the sustainability performance of companies. They can, for example, assess an entity’s exposure to, and...more