Australia has now officially passed laws that will introduce a mandatory climate-related financial disclosure regime from 1 January 2025. This is one of the most significant reforms to corporate financial reporting in...more
On July 10, 2024, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge dismissed a complaint brought by the City of Baltimore against 25 fossil fuel manufacturers, seeking to hold them liable on numerous state-law theories, including for...more
On April 24, 2024, the European Parliament approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D). The directive, which must be formally endorsed by the Council of the European Union (EU) before officially...more
In this week’s edition, we discuss the ever-increasing focus on greenwashing by way of enforcement action taken by regulatory authorities and incoming legislation aimed at enhancing consumer protection. The EU confirmed the...more
Beginning April 2024, companies registered in Brazil’s Federal Technical Registry of Potentially Polluting Activities (CTF/APP) will begin to pay the Environmental Control and Inspection Fee (TCFA) under a new calculation...more
Greenwashing Beef Production - On February 28, New York State Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court against meat processing company JBS USA for misleading the public about its...more
Australia continues to be a highly active jurisdiction for climate-related lawsuits. Since our last update in August 2023, we have seen a steady stream of suits commenced against corporations and government bodies in relation...more
About the same as what happened at COP27. The 70,000+ fabulists, opportunists, and assorted acolytes comprising the congregation of the Church of Our Holy Mother of the Suffering Planet celebrated another high mass in,...more
On October 26, 2023, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report with recommendations for linking climate-related actions taken by non-state actors (NSAs) to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) established by...more
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court issued a first-of-its-kind judgment in the United States in favor of young plaintiffs in climate litigation. The action Held v. Montana featured 16 youth plaintiffs alleging that...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
On September 8, 2023, the United Nations published its first Global Stocktake report on the progress made by nations in addressing climate change. The report, which represents the first comprehensive assessment of nearly 200...more
Australia continues to be a highly active jurisdiction for climate-related lawsuits. The last few years have seen multiple suits commenced against corporations and governments in relation to climate issues, with more filings...more
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has introduced the Recognition and Accountability Framework to recognize voluntary climate change pledges by non-state actors and ensure greater transparency...more
In June 2023, the Australian government published an updated Statement of Expectations for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), requiring it to, among other things, “promote prudent practices and...more
"Green Day" in the UK - As part of its "Powering Up Britain" strategy, the UK government has published a series of documents setting out its vision for the UK's transition to net zero and the strengthening of UK energy...more
What Is Carbon Offsetting and Why Is It Used? Carbon offsets are used by sustainability managers to make progress toward a company's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. Carbon offsetting allows companies to...more
On April 28, 2023, French multi-national energy company TotalEnergies filed a civil action in France against environmental activist group Greenpeace France and climate consulting group Factor-X alleging that a report issued...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
The United Nations General Assembly, the UN’s primary policy-making body, has adopted a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of its 193 member states...more
The European Commission has launched a public consultation and a call for evidence seeking opinions on the EU’s intermediary climate targets for 2040. This is a scheduled step in the EU’s ambition to reach net-zero emissions...more
On April 20, during a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), President Biden pledged $500 million to the Amazon Fund, Brazil’s signature fund set up to raise donations for investments to prevent,...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
ESG is an acronym and importantly a movement with a viewpoint. It is also an evolving concept which uses the first letters of three words as its name. Those words are Environmental, Social and Governance. ESG is a concept...more
The Net Zero transition will not be smooth. The scale of the investment required and the appetite and ability of countries to implement new policy – both now and in the years to come – will cause unprecedented disruption and...more