On October 19, 2023, the UK government’s Taskforce on Social Factors (Taskforce) launched a consultation to produce guidance on how pension funds can consider social issues in their investment decisions. The guide is intended...more
12/13/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Pension Schemes ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) ,
UK
According to a survey conducted by KPMG, 75% of companies are not in a position to obtain third-party assurance on their published ESG data. This is despite the fact that two-thirds of companies must disclose such data, or...more
11/29/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Data Management ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
KPMG ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quality Assurance Programs
On September 27, 2023, six “Portuguese young people” were heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in a lawsuit against 32 European governments, including all EU member states, alleging that their failure to act...more
11/14/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
European Court of Human Rights ,
Global Warming ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Human Rights ,
Paris Agreement ,
Public Health
On September 6, 2023, climate-focused investor engagement initiative Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) published the Net Zero Standard for Diversified Mining (the Standard), allowing investors to assess the transition plans of...more
The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, conducted a study “[t]racking progress with the TPI Net Zero Banking Assessment Framework.”...more
In August 2023, the UK pensions regulator’s climate and sustainability lead, Mark Hill, authored an article setting out how trustees can improve the climate-scenario analyses used by their schemes, in order to make them more...more
In August 2023, the UK government announced that it would publish guidance on emissions monitoring and reporting for public sector organizations in order to help achieve its aim to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions from...more
In August 2023, the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee launched an inquiry into the current and future role of private finance in nature recovery, in order to meet its goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050 while...more
In August 2023, the UK’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT) announced the creation of new sustainability rules that are intended to align with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International...more
9/19/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Finance ,
IFRS ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
In July 2023, the European Commission published its annual Strategic Foresight Report (the Report), focusing on how sustainability and people’s wellbeing can help to achieve President von der Leyen’s six priorities for the...more
On July 6, 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), in collaboration with National Competent Authorities (NCAs), launched the Common Supervisory Action (CSA) aimed at assessing the compliance of supervised...more
The Association of British Insurers published guidance (the Action on Nature Guide) setting out what insurers and long-term savings providers can do to help prevent biodiversity loss in the UK and become more “nature...more
In its 2023 snapshot report (the Climate Litigation Report), the London School of Economics’ Grantham Institute found that climate litigation continues to grow, with 190 new cases filed in the last 12 months, including cases...more
On June 7, 2023, the Swiss advertising regulator, Schweizerische Lauterkeitskommission (SLK), upheld complaints that the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) made false statements about the 2022 FIFA World...more
In May 2023, Global Feedback, an environmental advocacy group based in the UK and the Netherlands, announced that it had filed legal proceedings against the UK government, claiming that it failed to adequately assess the...more
6/27/2023
/ Agribusiness ,
Australia ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Exports ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
UK
On May 4, 2023, the United Nations announced the formation of a 35-member bank-led working group to promote nature- and biodiversity-related target setting that is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity...more
On May 9, 2023, Greenpeace, fellow climate change activist group ReCommon and 12 Italian citizens from regions affected by impacts of climate change announced their intention to file a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Italy...more
6/13/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenpeace ,
Greenwashing ,
Infrastructure ,
Italy ,
Oil & Gas
On April 28, 2023, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced their intention to jointly provide €18 billion in funding to finance projects covering climate action, clean energy and connectivity...more
On April 21, 2023 the European Commission approved a €401 million scheme proposed by the Czech Republic to promote green district heating from renewable energy and waste heat. The scheme represents another environmentally...more
On March 14, the European Commission (EC) announced a proposal to “revise the rules for electricity market design and for improving the EU protection against market manipulation in the wholesale energy market.” The proposals...more
3/27/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Generation Suppliers ,
Electricity ,
Energy Reform ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Green New Deal ,
Infrastructure ,
Market Manipulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) recently issued a report raising concerns that certain auditing firms had certified client companies’ practices and products as sustainable while ignoring that...more
On February 22, 2023, the UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR) announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at tightening regulation around ESG data published by trustees, as part of a wider campaign to assess whether trustees are...more
On January 24, 2023, Members of the European Parliament voted to adopt reforms to banking rules and implement the international Basel III agreement (Basel III). One of the objectives of Basel III is to enhance focus on ESG...more