HM Treasury (HMT) has published its response confirming the outcome of its consultation on the potential development of a green taxonomy in the UK. The consultation had sought views on whether such a taxonomy would be an...more
US formally submits notification of withdrawal from Paris Agreement. On January 27, 2025, Dorothy Camille Shea, the US acting ambassador to the United Nations, submitted a notification of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement...more
Environmental claims are a powerful tool for companies to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and connect with values-driven consumers. However, these claims are facing increased legal scrutiny, as governments and...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
“Net zero” is a topic as hot as the climate these days. With so much regulatory attention being placed on it, companies that do not communicate their net zero efforts appropriately or, worse, intentionally make false and...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced a new joint statement of policy and new principles (Joint Statement) for responsible participation in voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) with the U.S. Department of...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
New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James is suing JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings under New York’s consumer protection laws for allegedly attempting to boost consumer sales by making sustainability...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
Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest beef producer JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings (JBS Group). The lawsuit challenges the company’s claim that...more
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against beef producer JBS in state court. The allegations center around JBS’s allegedly misleading marketing claims related to its commitment to reduce climate...more
An Austrian regional court found Austrian Airlines AG (AUA), a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa, liable for greenwashing for advertisements offering carbon-neutral flights that used 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF),...more
Much of the attention on California of late has focused on the passing of two climate-related disclosure laws; namely, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA”) (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk...more
California recently has passed three climate disclosure laws, with yet another still pending. These new laws are aimed at increasing transparency and consistency in climate-related disclosures, including greenhouse gas (GHG)...more
In September, ahead of the Conservative party conference, Rishi Sunak announced a step back from the Government’s net zero policy and targets. This was followed up last week by the Government’s formal response to the Climate...more
The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
As businesses across the globe strive to fulfill carbon-neutral and net-zero promises over the coming decades, the voluntary carbon market has emerged as a necessary resource to help businesses bridge the gap to...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
A new report by professional services firm EY has found that only 5% of FTSE 100 companies have disclosed “credible” and sufficiently detailed transition plans to become net zero by 2050....more
The Net Zero transition will not be smooth. The scale of the investment required and the appetite and ability of countries to implement new policy – both now and in the years to come – will cause unprecedented disruption and...more
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (“NZBA”), the UN-led coalition of global banks “committed to aligning their lending investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050,” is facing backlash from certain sustainability-focused...more
The 2023 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM), produced in partnership by Carbon Market Watch and the New Climate Institute, contend that of the 24 multinational corporations assessed in the review – “the largest...more
On February 10, the UK’s advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), announced the publication of updated guidance for advertisers making environmental sustainability-related claims to consumers,...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) appears to be making up for lost time as it imposed another greenwashing-related penalty, this time against Black Mountain Energy, an upstream oil and gas company,...more
As part of its legislative arsenal to combat climate change, France adopted the Climate and Resilience Law on August 22, 2021 ("Climate Law"), providing for a large number of binding measures against greenhouse gas ("GHG")...more