The ruling propels UK law enforcement to increase its investigative powers under POCA, and businesses to enhance their supply chain due diligence.
By Paul A. Davies, Clare Nida, Pamela Reddy, Michael D. Green, James Bee, Annie Birch, and Esha Marwaha
On 27 June 2024, the UK Court of Appeal found that the National Crime Agency’s (NCA’s) decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products originating from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
The Private Members Bill, if passed, would establish the UK’s first law mandating business due diligence on human rights and the environment.
By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee
On 28 November 2023, Baroness Young of Hornsey (Baroness Young) introduced the Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill (the Bill) to the UK House of Lords. The Bill seeks to establish the UK’s first law mandating certain companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence, and would also introduce an overarching duty for companies to prevent environmental and human rights abuses within their operations and value chains.
The Bill aims to level the playing field among businesses, provide clarity on legal obligations, and enable a greater level of access to justice. It also aims to align UK law with voluntary international standards, such as the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Multinational Enterprises Guidelines.
The Act demonstrates the UK’s renewed commitment to reaching net zero and paves the way for players in key industries to achieve their targets.
By Tom Bartlett, Paul A. Davies, JP Sweny, Michael D. Green, James Bee, and Samuel Burleton
On 26 October 2023, the UK Energy Act 2023 (the Act) received Royal Assent. The Act is a landmark piece of energy legislation detailing the UK’s approach to achieving energy independence and its net zero obligations.
The provisions of the Act lay the foundation for potentially £100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy infrastructure. The government has indicated that the Act is intended to support up to 72,000 jobs in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen by 2030.
This blog post summarises how the Act is likely to impact key industries.
The government published a new document outlining its existing and proposed objectives to develop the UK’s sustainable economy.
By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee
On 30 March 2023, the UK government published an updated version of its Green Finance Strategy (the Strategy), titled “Mobilising Green Investment”. The Strategy is part of the UK government’s series of announcements for its Green Day (see this blog post for more on the broader Green Day announcements).
With the recent UK “Green Day” announcements confirming the government’s support for CCUS, interest in UK CCUS projects is expected to continue to grow. While there are significant opportunities for investors, careful consideration will be needed to navigate a number of industry specific issues to achieve a successful CCUS project.
By Beatrice Lo, JP Sweny, Simon J. Tysoe, Evelyne Girio, James Richards, and Alexander Leighton
As governments and businesses around the world have committed to decarbonisation and achieving net zero by 2050, there has been growing activity in the development of, and investment in, carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies. As the UK has one of the greatest carbon dioxide storage potentials of any country in the world (the UK Continental Shelf in the North Sea, accounting for approximately 85% of Europe’s carbon dioxide storage potential and able to safely store 78 billion tonnes), CCUS is a key focus for the government’s decarbonisation ambitions.
The UK government has unveiled a number of measures with the overall purpose of reaching net zero by 2050 and meeting the UK’s climate targets.
By Paul A. Davies, Beatrice Lo, JP Sweny, Simon Tysoe, Michael D. Green, and James Bee
On 30 March 2023, on what has been called the UK’s “green day”, the UK government announced a series of policies and proposals that it hopes will form the backbone of its strategy to drive investment into green energy with a view to achieving energy security and meeting the target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
A court recently found that UK authorities did not fetter their discretion by not investigating general cotton imports potentially produced by the forced labour of Uyghur people in China.
By Stuart Alford KC, Clare Nida, Nathan Seltzer, Paul Davies, Michael Green, James Bee, and Esha Marwaha
Update (9 July 2024): The judgment referred to in this article was overturned by the UK Court of Appeal on 27 June 2024. For our analysis of the latest information and implications, please see our latest blog post.
On 20 January 2023, the High Court ruled against human rights campaigners who argued that UK authorities were improperly allowing the import of cotton textiles made in Xinjiang, a region of China associated with alleged human rights abuses against the Uyghur people. Approximately 85% of Chinese cotton is grown in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), with the “vast majority” of cotton alleged to have been produced in facilities under conditions of “detention and prison labour”.[1]
The discussion paper aims to encourage industry-wide dialogue on sustainability related-governance, incentives, and competence.
By Anne Mainwaring, Sara Sayma, and Dianne Bell
On 10 February 2023, the FCA published DP23/1: Finance for positive sustainable change: governance, incentives and competence in regulated firms.
The FCA considers that a firm’s governance, purpose, and culture are central to how it embeds environmental and social considerations into business, risk, and capital allocation decisions for the benefit of consumers. With this in mind, the FCA is seeking views on how it can move effectively beyond disclosure-based initiatives to help and encourage firms as they develop their arrangements for governance, incentives, and competence in the area of sustainability.
A new Latham & Watkins guide examines the recent increase in whistleblowing and poses self-assessment questions against which firms can benchmark themselves.
By David Berman, Andrea Monks, Nell Perks, Nathan H. Seltzer, Becky Critchley, and Charlie Bowden
Many sectors, including financial services, have encountered a discernible increase in whistleblows in recent times — a trend that shows no signs of abating. Indeed, some whistleblowers have seen fit to publicise their concerns in the press and/or
The Financial Services Skills Commission has issued an insight paper outlining how companies can collect and evaluate data on employees’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
By David Berman, Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Dianne Bell
Socioeconomic backgrounds of employees and socioeconomic diversity at senior levels across the UK financial services industry is beginning to feature more prominently in diversity and inclusion (D&I) discussions. Several government and industry taskforces and studies conducted on the issue of social mobility and class advantages/disadvantages have revealed striking impacts of this bias within the UK financial services sector. Not only is the sector significantly reliant on individuals from higher socioeconomic backgrounds at the leadership level, but the studies also indicate that employees from working class or lower socioeconomic backgrounds are held back in a number of ways (which may lead to their eventual departure from the sector).
From a regulatory perspective, this lack of diversity at the senior level impacts the culture of a firm, raising concerns around, for example, groupthink and its impacts on effective decision-making.