Interest in ESG investing continues to attract attention globally as policymakers and regulators around the world implement policies and regulations to direct or guide behavior and protect the interests of a wide range of stakeholders. Against this backdrop, we observe a rising challenge to so-called “woke capitalism”, particularly with the recent wave of anti-ESG sentiment
On 28 July 2022, 161 States voted in favour of a United Nations General Assembly (“UNGA“) resolution declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right (“UNGA Resolution“). In a remarkable display of global solidarity, the resolution received zero ‘against’ votes, and eight ‘abstain’ votes. This vote follows the passing of a similar resolution in the United National Human Rights Council in October 2021. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd, hailed the UNGA Resolution as having the potential “to be a turning point for humanity”.Continue Reading Business and Human Rights: New Universal Human Right To Access A Clean, Healthy And Sustainable Environment
The European Commission recently published a series of documents in the context of the Green Deal initiative. One of these is a proposal for a directive on consumer empowerment. With this proposal, the Commission seeks to deliver on its promise to ensure consumers have access to reliable, comparable and verifiable information on products to allow
A centerpiece of the European Green Deal was officially unveiled last week. The Proposal for a Regulation establishing ecodesign requirements for sustainable products[1] (‘ESPR’) is an ambitious document, part of a series of European Commission proposals seeking to redefine business in line with the European Union’s vision for a more sustainable future, as part
In 2017, following multiple legislative proposals and lengthy negotiations, France became the first EU Member State to adopt a cross-sectoral law on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (the “French Law“). At the time the French Law was adopted, it was highly criticized, in part because France appeared to be going “out on a limb” and a broader international response was felt to be necessary.
This February, an important step towards an EU-wide Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence legal framework was taken with the Proposal of the EU Commission for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (the “EU Proposal“). This follows legislative developments in individual EU Member States mandating human rights and environment due diligence in supply chains – see our previous blog posts on national HREDD movements in Germany and the Netherlands, for example.Continue Reading Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: How the EU proposal Could Impact France’s Existing Due Diligence Law
The fashion industry often faces scrutiny from stakeholders to improve due diligence in supply chains. A landmark proposed bill in New York, drafted last October and presented for the first time to a legislative committee on January 5 2022, is seeking to drive accountability and transparency in the supply chains of fashion companies. The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (the “Act“) historic in its scope and nature, would require fashion retail sellers and manufacturers to disclose their environmental and social impacts, and to set out targets to reduce those impacts.
Continue Reading ESG: Fashion in Focus – The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act
In September, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the omnibus, 956-page climate and energy legislative package titled the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (the “CEJA”). The CEJA has an immediate effective date. In a Legal Update, we cover the amendments the CEJA makes to Illinois law with respect to decarbonization of the electric generation
This article follows-up on our previous Blog Post exploring the “jargon” of the EU Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), an ambitious political action plan for chemicals regulation in the EU that was released in October 2020.
Today, we are digging into another key concept of the CSS: the concept of “one substance, one assessment” (hereafter referred to as “OSOA“), which is essential for the Commission, and more generally for the European Union, to simplify and consolidate the chemicals legal framework.Continue Reading Simplifying and Recasting the Assessment of Chemicals in the EU: A Challenge for the Administrative Puzzle
On 8 April 2021, we discussed in our blog post the UK government’s consultation on the draft climate risk regulations under the Pension Schemes Act 2021. The government has recently published a response to the draft regulations, the finalised regulations and the accompanying statutory guidance. The new regulations will apply to trustees of larger
On June 21, 2021, US financial regulators met with US President Joe Biden to discuss the US economy and update him on their efforts to address climate-related risks. According to the White House readout of the meeting, the regulators said “they were making steady progress” on implementing President Biden’s executive order on climate-related risk. The briefing follows last week’s passage of HR 1187, the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act, by the US House of Representatives1 by a vote of 215 to 214. HR 1187 would mandate that the SEC create an ESG disclosure regime for public companies and provides numerous statutory requirements for those disclosures, including climate-related disclosures. Although the bill is unlikely to become law due to expected opposition in the US Senate, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation, the passage of the HR 1187 by the House – combined with President Biden’s focus on climate-related risks in his meeting with financial regulators – should bolster and influence the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ongoing development of new ESG disclosure requirements for US public companies under its existing statutory authorities. With regulators telling President Biden that they are “making steady progress,” new disclosure requirements for US public companies appear to be just around the corner.
Continue Reading The US Moving Toward Adopting New Climate Disclosures