The European Commission’s Omnibus package, published on February 26, 2025 (the Omnibus Package or the Package), proposes to simplify the EU’s sustainability laws. At the same time, it has generated significant uncertainty for...more
3/31/2025
/ Business Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Due Diligence ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
The European Commission formally adopted its proposals for amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) in late February 2025, as part of its highly anticipated sustainability Omnibus package. In this...more
3/10/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability
At COP29 in Baku, new rules were adopted for carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. These rules are meant to increase the transparency of the country-to-country trading of carbon credits under Article 6.2....more
2/28/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Popular ,
Sustainability
More competitiveness, more coherence and less administrative burden – these are key political priorities for the new European Commission (the Commission) which took office last December. One of the earliest moves under the...more
1/17/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
This is an update to previous bulletins on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) which we published in June and September 2024.
In a decisive move that marks a new chapter for corporate...more
12/17/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
Member State ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
On November 12, 2024, The Hague Court of Appeal found in the case Millieudefensie vs. Shell that the Shell Group has an obligation to counter dangerous climate change. However, the Court was not able to establish that the...more
12/5/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
In this article, we provide an overview of country-led and private sector-driven key developments surrounding the recent United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16). The world is progressively recognizing that biodiversity...more
11/15/2024
/ Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Contaminated Properties ,
COP ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
United Nations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently took two significant actions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
First, it issued final National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) for six PFAS...more
With Parliamentary elections and a series of national votes in 2024, the EU is entering a pivotal period in its history. In this study, ‘Global business in a changing Europe’, we speak to corporate leaders across the world to...more
3/22/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asset Management ,
Capital Markets ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Global Market ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability
Taxonomies will play a critical role in channelling investment towards sustainable activities. But while alignment between frameworks is critical , a one-size-fits-all approach can never be effective....more
3/7/2024
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Global Market ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
UK
Creating an effective regulatory framework will be critical to deliver Net Zero. But does that mean more – or less – regulation?
From trade agreements to taxonomies, carbon adjustment mechanisms to corporate sustainability...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Economy ,
Global Market ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
United States
It’s not easy being green: the European Commission has published its long-awaited proposal for the Green Claims Directive to enhance consumer protection against greenwashing....more
Recent policy and regulatory developments have shown that governments and businesses around the world are increasingly focused on consolidating their competitive positions in the green industrial revolution. Significant...more
The EU emissions trading system (the EU ETS) is one of the key pillars of the EU’s policy to combat climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from regulated sectors....more
Impact on public procurement procedures.
The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was published on 23 December 2022. It will take effect on 12 July 2023 and provides for mandatory notification requirements from 12...more
The EU Emissions Trading System (the EU ETS) is one of the key pillars of the EU’s policy to combat climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from regulated sectors....more
On 21 December 2021, the European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (the Committee) published its Draft Report on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the...more
As 2021 draws to a close, the European Commission (EC) has been busy. On 15 December 2021, it adopted several new documents in relation to environmental protection in the widest sense.
...more
On 26 May 2021, the Court of The Hague rendered a landmark decision in proceedings between Milieudefensie (a.o.) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS). Milieudefensie claimed, in short, that RDS must reduce its CO2-emissions by...more
Following an extensive consultation process, the Equator Principles Association (EP Association) adopted a fourth iteration of the Equator Principles (EP4) on 18 November 2019. Originally, EP4 was due to come into effect on 1...more
The UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act) was heralded as the first legislation of its kind globally and is thought to have inspired a number of other governments to introduce their own supply chain transparency and due...more
In the EU, manufacturers of a wide variety of products can currently demonstrate compliance with essential EU requirements by having a so-called “notified body” carry out a product conformity assessment and affix a conformity...more
BACKGROUND -
In 2006, China passed a law regulating the use of six hazardous substances found in certain electronic equipment. This law was modelled on a similar EU Directive, and was informally referred to as “China RoHS1”....more
For many large companies across Europe, 2017 marks the introduction of new non-financial reporting requirements addressing issues such as human rights and corruption for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2017....more