On April 2, 2025, after weeks of speculation and heightened geopolitical tension, President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on what he dubbed “Liberation Day”. The tariffs included a baseline universal tariff of 10%...more
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
In the context of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., EU, and U.K. continue to implement new measures to stifle Russia’s war efforts.
The Biden administration continued to escalate sanctions...more
3/12/2025
/ CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
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
Badged as “The Finance COP”, the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku (COP29) has drawn mixed reactions to its climate finance deal. However, the recognition of the role for both the private sector and multilateral agencies...more
We distil key practical takeaways from the UK Government’s official guidance on the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud (the Guidance).
Businesses and compliance teams will be working to review and...more
11/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Due Diligence ,
Fraud ,
Fraud Prevention ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
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
Our second annual study into the scale of the financing needed to decarbonize the global economy reveals the challenge is bigger than previously thought.
- Our research shows we are USD6 trillion a year short of what needs...more
11/12/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Global Economy ,
Green Finance ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Net Zero ,
OECD ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
We were proud to provide market-leading expertise and legal support to the secretariat of the Transition Market Finance Review. The review explores how the U.K. can become a leading market for transition finance domestically...more
We were delighted to host the U.K. Transition Finance Market Review’s (TFMR) flagship event at New York Climate Week, in partnership with the City of London Corporation who host the TFMR secretariat. The session offered a...more
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
In 2027, the UK will introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on imports of certain carbon intensive goods. The CBAM will impose a charge on the emissions embodied in relevant imports that take place on or after...more
4/5/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
HMRC ,
Imports ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Taxation ,
UK ,
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
From tariffs on high carbon goods to technical regulations that set emissions targets, well-designed trade policy is critical to deliver Net Zero. But there is growing debate over whether such measures are compatible with...more
Sustainability reporting and disclosure can bring many benefits, including greater transparency and increased accountability. But unless coupled with, and closely tied to, the implementation of a clear business strategy for...more
How to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy is a hot regulatory topic for most major economies around the world – and is set to continue ascending the agenda in the years to come. As sustainability-related...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Capital Markets ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Reform ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Market ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
UK ,
United States
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
Who has to comply with the Regulation? The Regulation only applies to EU person exporters who are selling, supplying, transferring, or exporting the targeted goods (including aircraft) to third-country counterparts outside of...more
The road to decarbonisation -
From the copper belts of Zambia and the lithium and cobalt deposits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the manganese mines in Gabon, the African continent holds much of the promise...more
2/6/2024
/ Africa ,
Batteries ,
Clean Energy ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Infrastructure ,
International Energy Agency (IEA) ,
Investment ,
Lithium Batteries ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Mining ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
In light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UK and EU, in close collaboration with their G7 partners, have continued to exert economic pressure on Russia through an array of sanctions.
In this bulletin, we...more
Last year, we wrote about ClientEarth’s application to the High Court of England and Wales for permission to bring a judicial review claim, alleging that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unlawfully approved the IPO...more
1/18/2024
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Judicial Review ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new package of sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and investment labelling rules is a key pillar of the UK government’s efforts to introduce an economy-wide SDR regime. All...more
12/20/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Greenwashing ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
The UK has finally confirmed that it will be following the EU and introducing its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to be implemented by 2027.
It published the eagerly awaited outcome of its consultation on...more