Munich Re, Zurich and Hannover Re, three major insurance providers, announced their exit from the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) in the span of one month between March and April 2023. The NZIA is a UN-convened group of...more
A trial has been scheduled for June 12 in a case involving climate-related constitutional challenges to actions by the State of Montana, its governor, and various state agencies. In Held v. Montana, sixteen Montana...more
On March 21, 2023 the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 2547, which claims to be “designed to continue protections of state pension funds from strategies that would be harmful to the state’s energy...more
Earlier this month, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) urged legislators to reject key aspects of “anti-ESG” bills introduced in the Kansas Senate and House of Representatives. Both bills are designed, in...more
3/24/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Kansas ,
Pension Reform ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Employees ,
Public Pension ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
On March 16, 2023 the Republican governors of 19 states announced an alliance led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to “push back against President Biden’s environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) agenda that is...more
3/22/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
President Biden will likely issue the first veto of his presidency after Congress passed a measure that would repeal a Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG-related factors in...more
3/14/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Presidential Veto ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
California Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, if passed, will require all companies that do business in California and report over $1 billion in annual revenue to report on the full range of their...more
3/7/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
California ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Health and Safety ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Health
On February 13, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced his support for what his office described as “comprehensive legislation to protect Floridians from the woke environmental, social, and corporate governance...more
3/2/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Florida ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State Legislatures ,
Sustainability
Attacks on “ESG investing” in the U.S. continues to intensify as additional Republican lawmakers take aim at financial institutions’ alleged “ESG agenda.” Citing an effort to “promote the depoliticization of our capital...more
On January 10, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), gave a speech at an international symposium on central bank independence on monetary policy tightening and the green...more
2/17/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Lending ,
Paris Agreement
Twenty-five Republican state attorneys general, along with two energy companies, have commenced an action against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) seeking to “hold unlawful and set aside” rules governing how retirement plan...more
On January 10, the Biden-Harris Administration released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization: A Joint Strategy to Transform Transportation, which is designed to cut all greenhouse emissions from the...more
1/24/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Pollution Control ,
Public Health ,
Regional Transportation Planning ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tribal Lands ,
Urban Planning & Development
On December 16, the Amsterdam headquartered bank ABN AMRO announced the publication of a climate strategy and its decision to join the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). ABN AMRO stated that it is “committed to making a...more
1/4/2023
/ Banks ,
Business Strategies ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Net Zero ,
Netherlands ,
Popular
On March 30, 2022, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) requested comment on draft principles “that would provide a high-level framework for the safe and sound management of exposures to climate-related...more
On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed far-reaching amendments to Regulation S-K and Regulation S-X that would mandate significant additional climate-related disclosures. If...more
3/24/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In anticipation of New York Fashion Week, lawmakers remind us that this season’s haute couture is not the only thing heating up right now. After years of global warming and environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics...more
2/11/2022
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Manufacturers ,
New York ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retailers ,
State Legislatures ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
Introduction -
The asset management industry has been sounding the alarm for some time about the risks and opportunities posed by climate change. While private equity giant, Carlyle, is the most recent financial institution...more
On October 21, 2021, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”), established in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to respond to emerging threats to the stability of the U.S....more
10/25/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FSOC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Controls ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Threat Management