Is My Company Required to Comply with the Paris Agreement?
Nota Bene Episode 33: Congressional Check-In for Q2: Paris Agreement, Presidential Nominees, and Privacy with Elizabeth Frazee
On 2 July 2025, the European Commission introduced its 2040 climate target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels. One of the key features of this strategy is the possibility to introduce...more
Science-based targets (SBTs) rely on scientific facts to achieve specific conditions or outcomes. SBTs reflect the best available science and set goals intended to prevent human activities from harming the environment....more
The Platform on Sustainable Finance, an advisory body to the European Commission (EC) has published an updated version of its handbook on Climate Transition Benchmarks and Paris-Aligned Benchmarks (version 2), and has also...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
On April 5th, 2019, environmental activist group Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth) Netherlands and co-plaintiffs served Shell a court summons alleging Shell’s contributions to climate change violated its duty of care...more
On 29 October 2024, the European Union and the UK government finalized the technical discussions on a competition cooperation agreement. This agreement will enable closer cooperation between the UK Competition and Markets...more
World leaders, scientists, government decision-makers, private sector actors, climate actionists and other stakeholders have convened at 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on...more
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which came into force on 25 July 2024, represents a significant step by the European Union (EU) to integrate sustainable practices into the core operational...more
The drive to achieve a carbon-neutral future is accelerating. Through the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, nations committed to curbing climate change by limiting global temperature increases to no more than 2°C above...more
Katten ESG Guidepost is a monthly publication highlighting the latest news, legal and regulatory developments involving environmental, social and governance matters....more
The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD or Directive) entered into force on July 25, 2024, establishing a framework for companies to address risks and adverse impacts on human rights and...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 EU and Euratom will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty with Member States to support modernisation in the future. The European Council has adopted four decisions, confirming that the EU and Euratom will leave the...more
The Tribunal confirmed that States party to UNCLOS must take measures to prevent marine pollution caused by climate change, on top of their obligations under the Paris Agreement. On 9 April 2024, the International...more
The European Parliament has now approved the “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive,” which will apply to both EU companies and to non-EU companies doing business in the European Union. (There is a phased...more
EU Value Chain Due Diligence Directive Not Endorsed - Following four years of attempting to progress and approve the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the European Council failed to give the...more
Introduction - With the adoption by 196 parties of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, legally binding international climate change arrived. The Paris Agreement requires increasingly aggressive five-year cycles climate...more
The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is coming into effect for the maritime transportation sector on January 1, 2024. Here’s what that means. Background - The EU ETS launched in 2005 and on May 10, 2023...more
After months of discussion – and years of development – on December 14, 2023, the European Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD”). The...more
The 28th Conference of the Parties (or “COP28”) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) at Expo City in Dubai has ended with an agreement described by COP28 president Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber as “historic”...more
On 14 December 2023, there was an initial agreement by the EU Parliament and the EU Council on the final text of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD”). CSDDD is a significant and impactful piece...more
On 4 December 2023 the European Supervisory Authorities (the “ESAs”) published their final report on updating the regulatory technical standards of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR Level 2”). The...more
The first edition of this paper was published on 22 August 2023. Since that date, the European Commission has finalized its guidance indicating that Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation and the Disclosures Delegated Act apply...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
On September 27, 2023, six “Portuguese young people” were heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in a lawsuit against 32 European governments, including all EU member states, alleging that their failure to act...more