The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently held its second virtual public workshop to provide additional guidance on implementing California’s climate disclosure statutes, SB 253 (Climate Corporate Data Accountability...more
8/27/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fees ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
On August 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for preliminary injunction filed by a coalition of business groups seeking to halt implementation of California’s corporate...more
In its latest move to provide companies and other stakeholders with much needed guidance regarding the implementation of California’s climate-related disclosure regime, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has unveiled a...more
On July 4, 2025, the European Commission (EC) adopted a “Delegated Act Amending the Taxonomy Disclosures, Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts,” marking a significant shift in how companies will interact with the European...more
European policy-makers are moving swiftly to scale back the scope and burden of corporate sustainability reporting. Specifically, in recent weeks, two parallel developments—one political, the other technical—have introduced...more
6/30/2025
/ Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Parliament ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Voluntary Disclosure
In a widely anticipated move, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that it will no longer defend the agency’s climate disclosure rule issued during the Biden administration. The disclosure rule...more
3/28/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Earlier this week, Mark Uyeda, the Acting Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), began the process of unwinding that agency’s final climate disclosure rule enacted during the Biden administration. In a...more
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
8/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Hydropower ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Supply Chain
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
6/24/2024
/ China ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Nuclear Power ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Credits
Key Points - On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the SEC in a 3-2 vote adopted “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (Final Rule). The Final Rule will require public companies to...more
3/12/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Transparency
Akin’s newsletter on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policy and regulatory developments, provides a timely digest of ESG topics, news items and other relevant information regarding significant ESG policy...more
3/7/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Policy Updates ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
UNFCCC
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past few weeks and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
11/3/2023
/ Carbon Taxes ,
Charging Stations ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Environmental Protection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Exports ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Oil & Gas ,
SCOTUS ,
Zero Emission Credits
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
In November 2022, the U.S. government, acting through the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics & Space Administration, issued a proposed rule that would amend the Federal...more
12/9/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
System For Award Management (SAM) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Legislation to “prevent corporate greenwashing” by requiring major companies doing business in California to publicly disclose their scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has cleared two critical committees....more
Two recent rulings by California state court judges have struck-down California statutes that were intended to foster diversity at California-based public companies. In the first case, Crest v. Padilla, No. 20-STCV-37513...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed amendments on climate-related disclosures would require public companies, or “registrants,” to provide detailed climate-related information in their registration...more
Key Points -
On Monday, March 21, 2022, the SEC in a 3-1 vote proposed amendments to require public companies to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports. The...more
2021: ESG On Center Stage -
As we approach the end of a watershed year, we are struck by the rapid evolution and intensification of all things ESG (environmental, social and governance). Virtually every segment of the...more
1/7/2022
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Sustainability ,
UNFCCC
Last week, the Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published an illustrative letter that provides samples of comments, which the SEC may issue to companies regarding...more
In a speech last week before the Principles for Responsible Investment’s “Climate and Global Financial Markets” Webinar, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler made another case for mandatory...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued to build on its climate and environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda last week. On March 3, the SEC’s Division of Examinations announced the release of its 2021...more
Yesterday, we wrote about the potential impact of the nomination of so-called “Money Cop” Gary Gensler to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Well, now it appears that Gensler will have a new sheriff on...more
Key Points
- Mandatory ESG requirements could be an early priority for SEC chair nominee Gary Gensler, with increasing calls from within the SEC to require material ESG risk disclosures.
- The EU recently implemented...more
2/3/2021
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
UK