On May 29, 2025, the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") affirmed the statutory deadlines for disclosures under SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (the Climate-related Financial Risk Act)....more
Citing potential economic damage and unfair burdens, President Trump signed an Executive Order that starts the process of withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement is an international...more
1/22/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Paris Agreement ,
Trump Administration ,
UNFCCC ,
United Nations ,
Withdrawal
Purchasing carbon credits was once seen as a way for companies to sidestep genuine emissions reduction in their decarbonisation efforts. But that is changing as these products, and the way they are used, face growing...more
An accelerating focus on doing business responsibly will force changes to wide-ranging aspects of business operations and strategy -
Societal expectations of businesses have shifted fundamentally over the past five years....more
9/27/2024
/ Business Operations ,
Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance
On April 4, 2024, less than one month after their adoption, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has chosen to stay its newly adopted climate disclosure rules, pending judicial review (the "Final Rules"). The...more
On March 6, 2024, in a 3 to 2 vote of the Commissioners, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted rules that will require public companies to disclose extensive climate change-related information in their...more
With the 2023 annual report season upon us, it is time for companies to take stock of risk factors for 10-Ks and 20-Fs, and consider whether recent economic, political, technological, and regulatory developments have had (or...more
12/22/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Geopolitical Risks ,
Internal Controls ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures ("TNFD") released its final framework (the "TNFD Framework") on September 18. The TNFD Framework encourages organisations to integrate nature into decision-making and...more
11/9/2023
/ Biodiversity ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financing ,
Framework Agreement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability
Buyers are scrutinizing everything from an acquisition target’s projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to ways in which a deal may impact their own climate mitigation strategies. In this regard, reliable and verifiable...more
The Act's supporters say it would shift voting power from large investment advisers to individual investors, but the reality could be far more complex -
The INDEX Act arrives at a moment of increasing resistance to ESG...more
11/4/2022
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fund Managers ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Oil & Gas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shareholders
The Annual Report season will soon be upon us, and it is important to assess a company's risk factors at the outset and whether recent developments, including those relating to macroeconomic, geopolitical, and public health...more
11/1/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Global Economy ,
Human Capital ,
Interest Rates ,
Investors ,
Market Conditions ,
Military Conflict ,
Price Inflation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Latin America increases involvement in compliance and voluntary carbon markets activity.
Three factors distinguish Latin America as a potential leader in carbon markets: its adoption of carbon markets at the national and...more
Greenhouse gas emissions reduction or removal credit transactions allow governments, companies or individuals to purchase credits that are often referred to as "carbon credits" in an effort to mitigate climate change by...more
A look at three key regulatory developments in the EU and US - proposed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and Reporting Directives and US SEC Climate Change Disclosure Rules...more
7/15/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
CSDR ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
The regulatory landscape for ESG disclosure by U.S. public companies faces potentially dramatic changes, with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposing rules that would mandate comprehensive climate change...more
During the last several years, airlines have announced aggressive ESG targets. A significant component of many of these targets is the need for airlines to source more sustainable airline fuel and become less reliant on...more
5/3/2022
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Renewable Fuel ,
Sustainability
On March 21, 2022, in a landmark proposal, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposed rules that would require public companies to disclose extensive climate-related information in their SEC filings....more
3/25/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
This is Part I of a two-part series outlining key considerations from White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group for US public companies during the 2022 annual reporting and proxy season.
Part I of this memo describes...more
1/12/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Audits ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equity ,
Form 10-K ,
Human Capital ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Proxy Season ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain
In the past few weeks, both major proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), have issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. These...more
12/16/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
The Paris Agreement approved by the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ("UNFCCC") aims to (i) hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C...more
Over April 22nd and 23rd, the Biden administration hosted 40 world leaders in a climate summit coinciding with Earth Day. The leaders announced a variety of pledges and ambitions relating to curbing greenhouse gas emissions...more
4/28/2021
/ Air Pollution ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Earth Day ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Regulatory Agenda
While ESG issues have been a "hot topic" for several years, in recent weeks, the SEC has significantly increased its focus on the topic, paying particular attention to climate:
- Corp Fin to Focus on Climate Disclosure: On...more
This week, as part of a series of significant executive actions, President Biden issued an executive order directing the United States Department of Interior (DOI) to pause new oil and natural gas leasing on federal public...more
1/29/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Climate Change ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Land ,
Federal Leasing Regulations ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Secretary of the Interior ,
Tribal Lands