The Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) aims to prevent, remedy and/or compensate for environmental damage. ELD seeks to achieve this through the “polluter pays principle”, ensuring businesses are held legally and...more
A new European Parliament briefing highlights the benefits of, and difficulties associated with, transitioning the chemicals industry to a circular economy.
The traditional economy typically involves purchasing and using a...more
Six Portuguese children are raising funds to sue 47 European countries, asserting that their right to life has been threatened because governments have allegedly failed to adequately deal with climate change.
With the...more
The High Level Expert Group on sustainable finance (the Group), which the European Commission (the EC) established, published its interim report on 13 July 2017. The report sets out the key steps required to create a...more
On 26 June 2017, the European Commission (the EC) published non-binding guidelines on the methodology for reporting non-financial information by certain large companies and groups (the Guidelines) as required by Article 2 of...more
On 16 June 2017, the Member State Committee (MSC) of the ECHA unanimously agreed to identify BPA as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under the REACH regime. BPA is common in a variety of household products, typically...more
On 16 June 2017, the Bank of England (BoE) published an article setting out its response to climate change, explaining that climate change and society’s response to it presents certain financial risks. These risks arise...more
The European Commission has recently published plans to integrate sustainability considerations into decisions made by investors within the EU. More specifically, the EU is looking to spell out in legislation, that the...more
The European Conflict Minerals Regulation (the Regulation) was approved by the European Council on 3 April 2017. Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union will be the next step in the process and this could...more
The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) is the main EU instrument that regulates emissions from industrial installations (including power stations) and came into force on 6 January 2011.
Its objective is to achieve a...more
On 15 February 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) sent final warnings (a Reasoned Opinion) to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom for failing to comply with the air pollution limits for nitrogen...more
A new pensions directive was passed by the European Parliament on 24 November securing 512 votes (only 77 votes against and 40 abstentions), requiring EU workplace pension funds to consider environmental, social and...more
The UK will need to revisit its strategy to improve air quality following a recent court judgment determining that the Government’s existing plans are insufficient. With air pollution reportedly responsible for 9,500...more
We have commented previously about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and its relationship with environmental obligations. Here, following Brexit, we turn our attention to future trade arrangements for...more
The UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), assuming the UK does not negotiate continued participation in the EU’s Internal Market and the Common Commercial Policy (on similar terms as now), will impact its existing...more
While the overwhelming majority of the UK’s environmental legislation is derived from EU legislation and UK climate change and energy policy is largely influenced by the EU, surprisingly, environment and energy has been the...more
Following the recent UK referendum result, attention is now turning to the legal implications for specific policy areas.
While the overwhelming majority of the UK’s environmental legislation is derived from EU...more
7/21/2016
/ Climate Change ,
EFTA ,
Emissions Trading System ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
EU Single Market ,
Permits ,
Pollution Control ,
Renewable Energy ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UNFCCC
France adopted an ambitious energy transition package in August 2015 that sets out various targets designed to achieve the gradual de-carbonisation and increased sustainability of its economy.
The package includes...more
In December 2015, world leaders met to negotiate the Paris Agreement. Setting aside whether the Paris Agreement goes too far, not far enough or is just right, one cannot dispute that government commitments to limit an...more
4/20/2016
/ China ,
Climate Change ,
Emissions Trading System ,
Energy Market ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Socially Responsible Investments ,
UK ,
World Bank