The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has adopted new rules that require public companies to disclose substantial information about the material impacts of climate-related risks on their business, financial condition, and governance (the “Final Rules”). The SEC says that “climate-related risks, their impacts, and a public company’s response to those risks can significantly affect
On October 24, 2023, the US federal banking regulators finalized interagency principles for the effective management and supervision of climate-related financial risks (the “Climate Principles”).1 The Climate Principles are targeted at larger banking organizations and are intended to convey consistent supervisory expectations regarding how climate-related financial risks should be managed.
The US federal banking
The risk of an accusation of “greenwashing” is now an important concern for many companies. Greenwashing is an ill-defined concept but, nevertheless, is increasingly a source of litigation and regulatory scrutiny – with more of both expected. It carries with it reputational, regulatory and litigation risks for which companies should be prepared. Whilst the risks are always context specific – varying by jurisdiction, industry
On 26 June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”) issued its long-awaited inaugural global sustainability disclosure standards: IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures) (together, the “Standards”). The ISSB also released a related Sustainability Standards Navigator tool and a three-minute video. The
On June 22, 2023, the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) issued its first update of its Climate Transition Finance Handbook (CTFH) since its original publication in December 20201 and an updated version of its Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBPs).
In its related press release, ICMA states that the updated CTFH:
[I]ntegrates the progress made
The National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”) has requested comment (the “RFI”) on how climate and natural disaster risks may affect federally insured credit unions, their members, and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The RFI indicates that the NCUA may use the results of the RFI to develop regulatory and
On April 19, 2023, the influential CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) announced that nearly 7,000 organizations worldwide can disclose their plastic-related impacts for the first time, as CDP’s global environmental disclosure platform opens for 2023 reporting. CDP is adding plastic-related reporting to its online platform in response to a request from more than
On April 7, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released two staff reports on climate-related risks for financial institutions. While the staff reports do not suggest or impose legal requirements, they provide financial institutions with insights on banking regulators’ positions on climate-related risk management requirements and current industry practices. In this Legal Update
On 28 February 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the creation of the European Green Bond Standard (“EU GBS“).Continue Reading Alert – Council of the EU and European Parliament reach provisional agreement on European Green Bond Standard
A recent attention-grabbing report by the Guardian, Die Zeit and SourceMaterial claimed that “more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless“. This prompted a swift detailed rebuttal by Verra – the world’s largest certifier of offsets and the organization subject to the criticism – who argued that the Guardian’s