On September 5, 2023, the Corporate Leaders Group Europe (CLG Europe) published a position paper urging the European Union to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 90% by 2040, and asked EU member states to...more
10/31/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy
The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, conducted a study “[t]racking progress with the TPI Net Zero Banking Assessment Framework.”...more
In August 2023, the UK government announced that it would publish guidance on emissions monitoring and reporting for public sector organizations in order to help achieve its aim to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions from...more
In August 2023, the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee launched an inquiry into the current and future role of private finance in nature recovery, in order to meet its goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050 while...more
On July 31, 2023, the European Commission adopted the long-anticipated European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for use by all companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The...more
9/20/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
European Commission ,
Investment ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
Amid ongoing scrutiny over proxy voting (particularly in relation to ESG-related resolutions), the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has launched a consultation aimed at developing a vote-reporting...more
The UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) recently released its 2023 statutory report, evaluating the UK’s progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting carbon reduction targets. This report, mandated by the...more
9/7/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Infrastructure ,
Net Zero ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
UK
The United States and the United Kingdom announced a partnership to address a range of global challenges, including the transition to clean energy. As part of the partnership, announced on June 9, 2023, the two countries...more
8/15/2023
/ Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Infrastructure ,
Minerals ,
Nuclear Power ,
Paris Agreement ,
Taxonomy ,
UK
On June 21, 2023, the General Court of the European Union rejected an action brought by a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) seeking to annul European Commission legislation that identified certain activities related to...more
8/2/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Parliament ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuclear Power ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Taxonomy
In June 2023, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) published a draft of its Financial Institutions Net Zero (FINZ) Standard to enable financial institutions to establish targets consistent with achieving net-zero...more
7/26/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation Papers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Net Zero ,
Paris Agreement ,
Renewable Energy
On May 9, 2023, Greenpeace, fellow climate change activist group ReCommon and 12 Italian citizens from regions affected by impacts of climate change announced their intention to file a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Italy...more
6/13/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenpeace ,
Greenwashing ,
Infrastructure ,
Italy ,
Oil & Gas
On April 28, 2023, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced their intention to jointly provide €18 billion in funding to finance projects covering climate action, clean energy and connectivity...more
On April 18, 2023, eight Greenpeace organizations (the organizations) filed a lawsuit against the European Commission at the European Court of Justice following the Commission’s inclusion of natural gas and nuclear energy in...more
5/24/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Commission ,
Greenpeace ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuclear Power ,
Oil & Gas ,
Taxonomy
As part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2021 action plan to incorporate climate change considerations into its monetary policy, the ECB conducted a climate risk stress test of the Eurosystem balance sheet in 2022. Those...more
On April 25, the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on ESG (APPG) published a report on environmental, social and governance issues. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of the House of Commons and...more
5/10/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Net Zero ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its first climate-related financial disclosures. The disclosures provide information on ECB portfolios, including detailing their carbon footprints and exposure to climate risks,...more
The European Commission last month announced a proposed Net-Zero Industry Act designed to drive the investment in and the growth of the clean technology manufacturing sector. The proposed Act is part of the Green Deal...more
Climate Action 100+, a climate-focused investor initiative, last month announced an updated framework designed to help investors assess and engage with public companies on climate-related issues. Its March 23 statement...more
A British appeals court will review the 2022 dismissal of a novel lawsuit accusing current and former directors of the United Kingdom’s largest private pension plan of mismanagement for, among other reasons, failing to divest...more
A report released by Dutch environmental advocacy group Changing Markets Foundation has highlighted alleged “greenwashing” in the UK and German food sectors, including via claims such as ‘carbon neutral,’ ‘climate positive,’...more
The Bank of England released a report titled Climate-Related Risks and the Regulatory Capital Framework (Report) on March 13, 2023. The Report expands on the Bank’s 2021 Climate Change Adaptation Report (CCAR), in which it...more
3/28/2023
/ Bank of England ,
Banks ,
Capital Requirements ,
CCAR ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Net Zero ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK
On February 28, a French court dismissed an action filed by six French and Ugandan NGOs aiming to force the suspension of TotalEnergies’ multibillion-dollar oil pipeline project in Uganda and Tanzania. The NGOs based their...more
3/27/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Habitat ,
Energy Projects ,
EU ,
France ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Rights ,
Infrastructure ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines
On January 18, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had commenced an action against Armenia under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention). This...more
The Australian Treasury announced a consultation into proposed rules on climate-related financial disclosure, which will align with the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”) recommendations. The consultation,...more