The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea held a series of public hearings that started September 11, 2023 following a request submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change (COSIS) to clarify...more
California lawmakers seek to raise the bar on climate regulation through the California Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (Senate Bill 253), which would require large public and private companies to disclose their...more
9/21/2023
/ California ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
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
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
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
On February 3, the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, announced the establishment of a nine-person Republican ESG Working Group to “combat the threat to our capital markets posed by those on the...more
On January 10, the Biden-Harris Administration released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization: A Joint Strategy to Transform Transportation, which is designed to cut all greenhouse emissions from the...more
1/24/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Pollution Control ,
Public Health ,
Regional Transportation Planning ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tribal Lands ,
Urban Planning & Development
On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed far-reaching amendments to Regulation S-K and Regulation S-X that would mandate significant additional climate-related disclosures. If...more
3/24/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On March 9, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (the “Executive Order”) that sets in motion a “whole-of-government” strategy to address the impacts of the rise...more
3/16/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Bitcoin ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Contract ,
Investor Protection ,
Regulatory Agenda
In anticipation of New York Fashion Week, lawmakers remind us that this season’s haute couture is not the only thing heating up right now. After years of global warming and environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics...more
2/11/2022
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Manufacturers ,
New York ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retailers ,
State Legislatures ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability