After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt final rules that require reporting by public companies of climate change-related disclosure. While the final rules differ from the SEC’s controversial proposed rules in significant ways, the final rules are prescriptive, and require substantial new, additional disclosures.

The SEC

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

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted (in a 3-2 vote) final rules related to climate-related disclosures.  These rules had first been proposed in March 2022.  In his opening remarks, SEC Chair Gensler noted that the climate-change related disclosure rules will apply to public companies and to public offerings, and are intended to benefit investors by

A new lawsuit filed by several business interest groups seeks to overturn two recent California laws relating to emissions disclosures (SB253) and climate-related financial risk disclosures (SB261), which would require thousands of covered companies to begin making disclosures as early as 2026. This Legal Update addresses the main arguments of the lawsuit, the initial reaction

On December 21, 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) finalized guidance on how the banks and mortgage institutions it regulates (“New York Institutions”) should manage climate-related financial and operational risks (the “Guidance”). The Guidance establishes extensive obligations for New York Institutions, which—even if tailored by the state to be proportionate to size

On December 14, the National Congress of Brazil overrode most of the presidential vetoes to Federal Law No. 14.701/2023 (the “Time Limit Act”), which regulates Article 231 of the Constitution to set guidelines for the recognition, demarcation, use and management of Indigenous lands. The Time Limit Act was initially published on October 20, 2023, but

Following COP28 in Dubai, where our partner Luiz Gustavo Bezerra was present and participated in various discussions related to the transition to a low-carbon economy and the role of economic instruments and carbon markets, among several other topics, the implementation of initiatives that financially value the adoption of environmentally desirable practices by individuals and institutions

California recently enacted two laws—the Offshore Wind Expediting Act (SB 286) and the California Offshore Wind Advancement Act (AB 3)—to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy that could have significant implications for the industry and its stakeholders. The new laws aim to streamline the offshore wind permitting process, promote collaboration among state agencies

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 Brazilian Securities Commission (“CVM“) made a significant announcement on October 20, 2023, by introducing CVM’s Rule No. 193. This resolution provides comprehensive guidance on the creation and dissemination of sustainability information reports, specifically the IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, as outlined by the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB“), which are aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) and the criteria set by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”).Continue Reading Brazil Sets Global Precedent: First Nation to Embrace ISSB Sustainability Financial Reports