The UK government is currently consulting on draft primary legislation establishing a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”), which is set to come into force from 1 January 2027. The current consultation is limited to ensuring that the draft primary legislation implements the Government’s stated policy intent, rather than seeking further stakeholder comment on the
Other authors: Kirsty Morris
The House of Commons’ Joint Committee on Human Rights (the “Committee“) has launched a new inquiry to examine the UK’s current framework in relation to forced labour in international supply chains1. The Committee is seeking to establish if the current framework is effective in managing the risk
Other authors: Dušan Stojković
On 26 February 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its “Omnibus I” or “Sustainability Omnibus” package as part of its mission to improve the competitiveness of the European Union. The Omnibus Package foresees changes to several EU instruments pertaining to sustainability reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”)
The Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ) has recently issued Recommendation No. 156/2024, advising all branches of the Brazilian Judiciary and judges to adopt the second scope of the CNJ’s Protocol for Judging Environmental Lawsuits (Protocol). This second scope provides guidelines for quantifying the impact of environmental damages on climate change. In 2023, the CNJ
On 19 November 2024, the Council of the European Union (“Council”) adopted a new regulation on environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating activities.1 The new regulation, which was presented by the European Commission on 13 June 2023, aims to make ESG rating activities in the EU more consistent, transparent and comparable.2 This will
In a significant development for EU corporate sustainability legislation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to merge three cornerstone sustainability frameworks – the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Taxonomy Regulation – through so-called omnibus legislation.
While the Commission maintains this consolidation aims
On November 11, 2024, one of the first substantive outcomes of the 29th Session of the UN Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) was approved. The President of COP19 introduced a draft decision of the Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the
On 15 October, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog (the National Audit Office or NAO) published its overview of the Government’s approach to the three areas of environmental improvement, net zero and climate change adaptation.
The report provides a high-level critique of Government programmes to date on these three interrelated areas emphasising the scale of
On 3 September 2024, the UK Government published its factsheet on the Great British Energy Bill which received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 5 September.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish a publicly-owned energy company designed to drive clean energy deployment and support the UK Government’s aim of decarbonising