On June 12, 2025, President Trump delivered on his promise to ease the aggressive push led by California and other states to mandate a transition to electric vehicles. At a White House signing ceremony, Trump signed three...more
As discussed in a previous article, the European Union is seeking to "bring competitiveness and climate goals together," and therefore launched a reform package—the Omnibus package—regarding sustainability reporting and...more
Even for the unpredictable world of business and human rights, 2024 was particularly volatile, including for sustainability more generally. The European Union’s (EU) Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)...more
Climate change disclosures have recently become mandatory in Japan, following amendments to the Financial Instruments Exchange Act (FIEA) and the Cabinet Office Order on Disclosure on Corporate Affairs. These require...more
In this week’s edition, we discuss the investor expectations set out by the Finance Sector Deforestation Action for banks to address the financial risks of deforestation; the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity initiative’s...more
In this week’s edition, we look at a Brazilian enforcement action relating to illegal deforestation in the Amazon. We also discuss ESMA’s opinion on the functioning of the Sustainable Finance Framework, as well as proposed...more
Greenwashing Beef Production - On February 28, New York State Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court against meat processing company JBS USA for misleading the public about its...more
Australia continues to be a highly active jurisdiction for climate-related lawsuits. Since our last update in August 2023, we have seen a steady stream of suits commenced against corporations and government bodies in relation...more
Introduction: Strategic Carbon Management - The corporate world is experiencing significant growth in the need for carbon management services. Within the diverse field of environmental and sustainability services, the top...more
According to an annual report published on October 18, 2023, members of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) have stepped up their commitments by setting new intermediate targets in four key areas, i.e., sub-portfolio...more
The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has commenced this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and will run through December 12, 2023. The UAE is...more
The UAE published its long-awaited hydrogen strategy last week, aiming to outline the key steps needed to position the UAE as a top global producer of low carbon hydrogen by 2031 and to support the UAE’s announced target of...more
In addition to the risk of regulatory enforcement actions and penalties, the court system continues to be used as a battleground for climate issues through litigation against oil and gas (“O&G”) companies....more
The California State Senate and State Assembly recently approved two bills, Senate Bill 253 and Senate Bill 261, that could require thousands of companies doing business in California to disclose greenhouse gas ("GHG")...more
In late July 2023, House Republicans on the Financial Services Committee introduced four bills targeting various business and market activities that implicate environmental, social, and governance issues. In a statement...more
In its 2023 snapshot report (the Climate Litigation Report), the London School of Economics’ Grantham Institute found that climate litigation continues to grow, with 190 new cases filed in the last 12 months, including cases...more
In May 2023, Global Feedback, an environmental advocacy group based in the UK and the Netherlands, announced that it had filed legal proceedings against the UK government, claiming that it failed to adequately assess the...more
What Is Carbon Offsetting and Why Is It Used? Carbon offsets are used by sustainability managers to make progress toward a company's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. Carbon offsetting allows companies to...more
In a statement released on May 3, 2023, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) called for companies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) and grocery retail sectors to reduce their...more
On April 19, 2023, CDP launched a request for 7,000 companies to disclose on the production and use of the most environmentally problematic plastics, i.e., plastic polymers, durable plastics, and plastic packaging, through...more
On March 30, 2023, 21 Republican Attorneys General (AGs) wrote a letter addressed to over 50 U.S. asset managers citing “concerns about the ongoing agreements between asset managers to use Americans’ savings to push political...more
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), a European membership body for investor collaboration on climate change, announced the launch of its Net Zero Engagement Initiative (NZEI). A primary goal of the...more
The Royal Bank of Canada announced that this year it will begin incorporating ESG considerations into incentive compensation plans for the bank’s CEO and other top executives. In particular, the bank plans to take ESG...more
On February 7, a group of 30 investors, representing over $1.5 trillion of assets under management, wrote to the CEOs and board chairs of five major European banks “urging them to stop directly financing new oil and gas...more
On January 2, the New York City (NYC) Comptroller, Brad Lander, the NYC Employees’ Retirement System, the NYC Teachers’ Retirement System, and the NYC Board of Education Retirement System, announced that they had submitted...more