On May 12, 2023, the UK High Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by ClientEarth against Shell’s Board of Directors, finding that ClientEarth failed to establish a prima facie case against the Board for its management of climate...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
5/9/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asset Management ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
State Attorneys General
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
5/5/2023
/ Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Net Zero ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular
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
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
In early April, the climate activist shareholder group, Follow This, filed shareholder resolutions seeking stronger energy transition strategies from several oil “super-majors.” The resolutions have been filed in advance of...more
4/25/2023
/ BP ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Chevron ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financing ,
Fossil Fuel ,
General Meetings ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Shell Corporations
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
According to a new survey, most large companies are preparing to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rule even though it is not final, but many business leaders are concerned...more
4/7/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On March 30, 2023, the UK government announced the publication of its 2023 green finance strategy, updating its earlier 2019 strategy, which is intended to mitigate climate-related risk and damage while increasing the amount...more
4/4/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Green Finance ,
Investment ,
IOSCO ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Risk Mitigation ,
UK
On March 7, 2023, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”), the Canadian government agency responsible for supervising federally-regulated financial institutions (“FRFI”) and insurance companies,...more
3/31/2023
/ Banks ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FRFI ,
New Guidance ,
OSFI ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
According to a recent report published by global non-profit environmental disclosure platform CDP, approximately 41% of responding companies are reporting on one or more categories of supply chain emissions, even though such...more
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
Between February 23 and March 3, three leading global financial institutions announced updated environmentally linked targets aimed at reducing by 2030 their financed emissions in carbon intensive sectors, including oil &...more
3/21/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
HSBC
Border to Coast Pension Partnership (the “Partnership”), a pension pool consisting of 11 UK local government pension schemes, announced that “[o]il majors and banks must make greater progress on climate pledges or risk losing...more
Over the last three years, PwC and the Leadership Institute at the London Business School have studied the prevalence and efficacy of linking executive pay to ESG-related goals or targets. Their first two reports—Paying well...more
Under a proposed amendment to the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Bill, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) could be empowered to review appropriate risk weighting and capital requirements associated with a...more
On February 9, 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, urging the World Bank to “evolve” and be “bolder and more imaginative” in its operational approach to tackling...more
3/1/2023
/ Banks ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Debt Instruments ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Green Finance ,
Lending ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
World Bank
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
2/27/2023
/ Banks ,
Barclays ,
BNP Paribas ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Financing ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform
On February 7, the Division of Examinations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the publication of its 2023 examination priorities, which include a focus on ESG-related advisory services and fund...more
Just days after the Texas Senate questioned a global asset manager—among other major financial investment firms—about its ESG-related investing policies, its chief executive said in an interview for the Financial Times that...more
On January 24, 2023, Members of the European Parliament voted to adopt reforms to banking rules and implement the international Basel III agreement (Basel III). One of the objectives of Basel III is to enhance focus on ESG...more
Environmental advocacy group As You Sow has sent climate-focused shareholder resolutions to five major U.S. banks. The resolutions request that the banks disclose their climate transition plans for meeting financed emissions...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
1/31/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Comptroller ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Pension Funds ,
Popular ,
Underwriting
Blackrock’s recently released 2023 Investment Stewardship Global Principles, identifies several key themes to guide stakeholders and promote sound corporate governance regarding sustainability-related issues. At a high level,...more
1/24/2023
/ Biodiversity ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
IFRS ,
Investment ,
SASB ,
Sustainability ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)