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Governance

On 14 December 2023, following several rounds of inter-institutional negotiations, the European Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament) announced that a political agreement had been reached on a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CS3D).  The European Commission (Commission) had initially published its proposal for CS3D on 23 February 2022, with the Council and the Parliament issuing their own positions on the text on 30 November 2022 and 1 June 2023, respectively (see our previous blogs, here, here and here).

Inspired by the 2017 French law on Corporate Duty of Vigilance and the 2021 German Supply Chain Law (see our previous blog post), and in response to growing stakeholder expectations and demands in the EU and globally, CS3D sets out EU standards for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD), requiring in-scope companies to mitigate their negative impact on human rights and the environment with respect to their own operations, those of their subsidiaries and those carried out by their business partners. In so doing, CS3D seeks to provide legal certainty and a level playing field as regards corporate supply chain obligations.Continue Reading Human Rights and the Environment – EU Institutions Reach Political Agreement On Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

Governance

Most UK climate litigation concerns challenges to the decisions of public authorities on projects with environmental effects or policies being adopted by Government that can have significant impacts on the environment.

A series of five recent decisions in the courts – all of which have rejected challenges based on climate grounds – show that the UK courts are extremely reluctant to call into question the decisions of national or local public authorities in the case of individual projects.  However, as we will see, there is room for challenges to be successful in limited circumstances which we consider below.Continue Reading A Wrap-Up of Recent UK Climate Change Litigation

Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (the “Singapore-Asia Taxonomy”) at the COP28 climate conference on 3 December 2023. This development is noteworthy as the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy is the world’s first multi-sector transition taxonomy for defining green and transition activities across eight key sectors, namely: (1) energy; (2) industrial; (3) carbon capture and sequestration; (4) agriculture and forestry; (5) construction and real estate; (6) waste and circular economy; (7) information and communications technology; and (8) transportation. The Singapore-Asia Taxonomy uses the traffic lights system of “green” (environmentally sustainable), “amber” (transition) and “ineligible” to classify activities based on their contribution to the taxonomy’s environmental objectives, currently focused on climate change mitigation. We previously reported on the work leading up to the finalisation of the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy here and here.Continue Reading Singapore Launches World’s First Multi-Sector Transition Taxonomy

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As we alluded to in our pre-COP video (which you can watch here), the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement will be concluded at COP28.  Although it is an important milestone in terms of establishing a comprehensive picture of what has been achieved since the Paris Agreement was entered into and what remains to be done, discussions appear to be fraught.  Clearly, an exercise of this kind allows for the re-opening of old wounds around substantive matters such as how to share responsibility for mitigation efforts.  On this theme, at the opening ceremony, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, urged participants to signal the decline of the fossil fuel industry.  Current expectations are that decisions in this regard will be in the context of the Global Stocktake. Continue Reading COP28 Insights Mini-Series – Part 2

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On 28 November 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) published its “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR“) and investment labels” policy statement (PS23/16) (the “Policy Statement“). The Policy Statement introduces a set of new rules aimed at tackling greenwashing, including investment product sustainability labels and restrictions on how terms…

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Plastic pollution is a global environmental problem. To combat this issue, the United Nations Environment Assembly passed a resolution in March 2022 to develop a draft global agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024 (reported here). The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee recently concluded in Nairobi, Kenya with the next session scheduled in April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada. Further, in April 2023, the international non-profit organisation, CDP, added plastic-related impacts to its global disclosure platform for companies and governments (reported here).

In Hong Kong, waste plastics continue to make up around 20% of municipal household solid waste disposal. To address growing concerns over the harmful effects of plastic waste on the environment and public health, the Hong Kong government recently passed the Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2023 (the “Bill“) to introduce regulations on disposable plastic tableware and other common plastic products, some of which will be banned from sale or free distribution in the coming year. Consequently, businesses in the food and beverage and hospitality industries will have to adapt their business operations. Hong Kong residents and visitors must also modify their consumption habits accordingly.Continue Reading Hong Kong Promotes Product Eco-Responsibility: New Regulations on Disposable Plastic Products

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

Brazil’s draft Sustainable Taxonomy Action Plan (the Action Plan), prepared by the Ministry of Finance, is currently under public consultation and receiving contributions and comments for its improvement. The deadline for taking part in the public consultation is October 20, 2023.

The development of a sustainable taxonomy seeks to address Brazil’s main environmental and social…

Environmental

UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced a major U-turn on the UK’s “net zero” policies.  This amounts to 3 key policy changes:

  • Electric vehicles – 3 years after announcing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, the ban has been delayed to 2035;
  • New exceptions to ban on sale of new domestic gas boilers from 2035 – although the ban on the sale of new gas boilers from 2035 remains, new exceptions will be introduced to help poorer households, although the details are to follow.  The sale of oil, LPG and coal boilers for off-grid homes is to be delayed to 2035;
  • Tougher EPC requirements to be scrapped – from 2025, no residential property was to be let unless it achieved a “C” rating for energy efficiency.  This has been scrapped.  Mr Sunak said that this could have led to a requirement to invest around £8,000 per property.  No announcements were made regarding commercial properties.

The changes have met with a mixed response, with some commentators highly critical of Mr Sunak’s U-turn, warning that introducing uncertainty could severely undermine investor confidence in the UK.Continue Reading UK rolls back “net zero” ambitions, carbon offsets face renewed attack and the spotlight falls (again) on policing carbon markets

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On 12 September 2023, Brazil´s Attorney General Office, representing the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency, filed a climate litigation lawsuit against a livestock farmer, seeking compensation for the deforestation of the Amazon Forest between 2003 and 2016.

This blog post provides a brief overview on this new lawsuit, which further strengthens a new trend for climate litigation in Brazil.Continue Reading New lawsuit filed by Brazil’s Federal Government further strengthens climate litigation trends against private entities in Brazil