ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sunday, January 21, 2024, seeking a declaratory judgment to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement...more
ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sunday, January 21, 2024, seeking a declaratory judgment to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement...more
The California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) reviews the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) program every five years as part of the broader scoping plan required under the California Global Warming Solutions Act. On...more
Corporate sustainability continues to evolve, and keeping pace in 2024 means confronting five big questions. For proponents of ESG (environmental, social & governance), 2023 might have felt like a big setback. Asset...more
1/4/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Capital Investments ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
Join climate bill-sponsor California State Senator Wiener at this V&E and PwC co-hosted CLE program covering what you should know about the new California Climate Disclosure laws....more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
10/13/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
BlackRock ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Insider Trading ,
NYSE ,
Private Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quarterly Report ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
As public companies anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final climate disclosure rules, which are expected to be released sometime fourth quarter of 2023, California has beaten the federal government...more
As public companies anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final climate disclosure rules, which are expected to be released sometime fourth quarter of 2023, California has beaten the federal government...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Insurance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) projects represent a critical pillar in many companies’ strategies to navigate the low-carbon transition. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) delays in issuing...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
7/13/2023
/ C&DIs ,
Climate Change ,
COSO ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Divestment ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Nasdaq ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Season ,
Repurchases ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy Cards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “the Agency”) this week released its final Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) “Set Rule”.1 As explained in our prior article, the Set Rule represents a new period for the RFS,...more
At long last, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is poised to grant Louisiana authority to issue Class VI permits under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act’s (“SDWA”) Underground Injection Control (“UIC”)...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
4/4/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Brokers ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Non-Voting Shares ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Recent announcements by the EPA provide some insight into its administration of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
On February 14, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced an...more
In an ambitious step toward New York state’s climate goals, the New York State Climate Action Council approved a Scoping Plan on December 19, 2022, which sets forth a series of recommended policies and actions. The 445-page...more
1/11/2023
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Tech ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Low Carbon Fuel Standard ,
New York ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Recycling ,
Renewable Energy ,
Waste Management ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
As a result of ongoing discussions, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union announced on December 13, 2022, that a provisional agreement had been reached to implement a European Union (“EU”) Carbon...more
Long awaited, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) last week released the proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) “set” rule. The set rule represents a new era for EPA in setting biofuel targets, as the targets...more
In this program, we will focus on SEC developments affecting, and practical aspects of preparing for, public companies’ annual meetings and annual reports, including compensation, shareholder proposals and corporate...more
11/4/2022
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Ethics ,
MD&A Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Sustainability ,
Webinars
When George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, ethanol was hardly a household name, even though it had been used as a fuel since the early 1800s.
Originally...more
On Sunday, August 7 the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Act) as part of the FY 2022 Budget Reconciliation bill. The House is now slated to reconvene on Friday, August 12 to vote on the Act and send it...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has recently finalized volumes for compliance years 2020, 2021, and 2022 under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”)’s renewable fuel standard (“RFS”) program and took several other related...more
What You Need to Know-
EPA has just released a proposed rule that would require facilities near “navigable water” that store listed hazardous substances above a threshold amount to prepare facility response plans for...more
In the latest development surrounding PFAS, EPA has published a direct final rule endorsing use of the newly updated ASTM E1527-21 standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (“Phase Is”)...more
On March 8, 2022, the Science Based Targets initiative (“SBTi”) announced that it would “no longer accept commitments or validate targets from fossil fuel companies” until it completes development of sector-specific criteria...more
Interest in the rainbow of different kinds of hydrogen has intensified, both in the United States and globally, in connection with the deployment of capital and government initiatives toward the energy transition.
In this...more