On October 31, 2023, the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) announced that it would be forming a working group to develop a voluntary code of conduct for Hong Kong-based ESG ratings and data providers. ICMA will...more
12/14/2023
/ Capital Markets ,
Code of Conduct ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) ,
Investment ,
IOSCO ,
Securities Regulation ,
Working Groups
On October 26, 2023, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report with recommendations for linking climate-related actions taken by non-state actors (NSAs) to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) established by...more
On September 7, 2023, Allianz SE unveiled its first net-zero transition plan for its core business segments, featuring 2030 intermediate targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The Munich-based insurance firm’s...more
On September 21, 2023, a Texas federal court dismissed an action commenced by more than two dozen Republican state attorneys general challenging a 2022 Department of Labor (DOL) Rule that addressed consideration of ESG...more
11/8/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Retirement Plan
On October 7, 2023, Governor Newsom passed Senate Bills 253 and 261 into law, which significantly expand California companies’ disclosure requirements concerning greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks....more
Ahead of September 2023’s G20 summit in Delhi, the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative called on G20 Finance Ministers to reform agricultural subsidies to enable countries to meet their net zero greenhouse...more
10/11/2023
/ Agribusiness ,
Biodiversity ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
COP ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
G20 ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment ,
Net Zero ,
Subsidies
In August 2023, S&P Global announced that it would be changing its approach to its ESG Scores on corporate sustainability performance, citing inconsistent company disclosures. The “S&P Global ESG Scores Methodology” is an...more
As we touched on last week, on August 14, the Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, entered its Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law in Held v. State of Montana, et al. striking down certain...more
9/13/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Montana ,
Pollution Control ,
Public Health ,
State Constitutions
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has introduced the Recognition and Accountability Framework to recognize voluntary climate change pledges by non-state actors and ensure greater transparency...more
Consumers’ Research, a nonprofit organization claiming to challenge “companies that have chosen to put woke politics above consumer interests,” announced in June 2023 that it was launching a publicity campaign against a...more
In May 2023, the shareholder advocacy group Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited and Amundi Asset Management filed shareholder resolutions pressing Japanese power...more
A review by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) of the published annual climate reports of more than 71 UK pension schemes found several areas where improvement is needed as well as emerging “good practices.”...more
On April 28, 2023, French multi-national energy company TotalEnergies filed a civil action in France against environmental activist group Greenpeace France and climate consulting group Factor-X alleging that a report issued...more
The United Nations General Assembly, the UN’s primary policy-making body, has adopted a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of its 193 member states...more
5/10/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
General Assembly ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ,
Renewable Energy ,
United Nations
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has approved a plan that would implement a transition period for companies applying IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-Related Financial...more
A recent academic study covering the period 2010-2021 has found that many companies in the S&P500 currently are providing disclosure on ESG issues, and in the absence of mandated disclosure rules, do so on a voluntary basis....more
Senior finance officials from 18 states, as well as hundreds of investors, public and private companies and climate-focused nonprofits, joined together to urge policymakers to reject efforts by certain, primarily Republican...more
On December 9, 2022, S&P Dow Jones Indices (DJI) announced the results of its 2022 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Annual Review.
The top five worldwide additions by market capitalization added this year are:...more
A trial has been scheduled for June 12 in a case involving climate-related constitutional challenges to actions by the State of Montana, its governor, and various state agencies. In Held v. Montana, sixteen Montana...more
On March 21, 2023 the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 2547, which claims to be “designed to continue protections of state pension funds from strategies that would be harmful to the state’s energy...more
Earlier this month, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) urged legislators to reject key aspects of “anti-ESG” bills introduced in the Kansas Senate and House of Representatives. Both bills are designed, in...more
3/24/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Kansas ,
Pension Reform ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Employees ,
Public Pension ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
On March 16, 2023 the Republican governors of 19 states announced an alliance led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to “push back against President Biden’s environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) agenda that is...more
3/22/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
President Biden will likely issue the first veto of his presidency after Congress passed a measure that would repeal a Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG-related factors in...more
3/14/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Presidential Veto ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
California Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, if passed, will require all companies that do business in California and report over $1 billion in annual revenue to report on the full range of their...more
3/7/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
California ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Health and Safety ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Health
On February 13, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced his support for what his office described as “comprehensive legislation to protect Floridians from the woke environmental, social, and corporate governance...more
3/2/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Florida ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State Legislatures ,
Sustainability