President Trump began his second term by issuing a barrage of executive orders, memoranda, and other directives, many of which targeted U.S. energy policy and the federal employees who implement it. Trump had campaigned on...more
Earlier this week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a climate case based on certain provisions of the Montana constitution. Specifically, the court ruled that: - The...more
California officials have been working on a plan to preserve the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to the White House and follows through on...more
Australia has now officially passed laws that will introduce a mandatory climate-related financial disclosure regime from 1 January 2025. This is one of the most significant reforms to corporate financial reporting in...more
Farmers in southern Tulare County will face greater scrutiny for groundwater pumping after the state placed the region on probation following a lengthy hearing in Sacramento on Tuesday....more
Recent raging winter storms have caved in streets, wrecked piers, collapsed homes and apartment buildings, and submerged property up and down California’s coastline. As sea levels continue to rise from climate change,...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced more than $325 million in funding for 21 projects aimed at addressing environmental and climate justice issues in disadvantaged communities. This funding...more
This White Paper focuses on ESG developments through the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) region since the start of 2024. For businesses present in the APAC region, as well as doing business there, it is imperative to be vigilant of...more
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed four final rules representing multi-media regulation (air, water, waste, climate) for the utility sector. Individually, each rule would have been notable for...more
For half a century, young people in the United States have played an active role in ongoing efforts to address climate change. Moving into 2024, young climate litigants find themselves in a promising position: They recently...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has undertaken the release of 45 state and 80 municipal priority climate action plans (“Plans”). The Plans were undertaken pursuant to the Inflation Reduction...more
On February 15, 2024, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released Massachusetts’ inaugural Environmental Justice Strategy (“EJ Strategy”), a comprehensive set of initiatives and...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 two weeks and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
As we enter 2024, we once again review the most significant legislation, policy changes and regulatory actions with respect to climate change taken by California in the past year. In contrast to 2022, which brought a revamp...more
About the same as what happened at COP27. The 70,000+ fabulists, opportunists, and assorted acolytes comprising the congregation of the Church of Our Holy Mother of the Suffering Planet celebrated another high mass in,...more
REGULATORY ISSUES & UPDATES - Mandatory Climate Change Reporting Requirements Under the New European ESRS E1 - The implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards poses risks for reporting companies,...more
On September 28, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance ("OECA") released a memorandum announcing its new Climate Enforcement and Compliance Strategy....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), has announced an unprecedented funding opportunity entitled the “Environmental and Climate...more
On September 21, 2023, the Biden administration outlined plans to expand federal agencies’ consideration of the social cost of carbon—a metric for the economic cost of each additional ton of carbon dioxide emitted to the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) oversees policy and guidance for the EPA’s hazard response and waste programs. In October 2022, OLEM released its Environmental Justice...more
This week, the Israeli government approved the joint proposal submitted by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environmental Protection to obligate all government ministries to formulate climate action plans. The proposal...more
The delegated regulation includes a new comprehensive and unified reporting methodology to direct investments toward environmentally sustainable economic activities....more
In November 2021, “[t]he United States House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a once-in-generation bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create millions of jobs, turn the climate crisis...more
Concurrent with commitments made during the twenty-sixth meeting of the United Nations’ COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the Biden Administration released two significant policies aimed at analyzing and curtailing the...more
After years of attempts with varying success to regulate methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, the Biden administration has shifted strategy in proposing a regulatory program covering both new and existing oil and...more