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Tag Archives: climate change

UK Net Zero Strategy: Understanding the Impact on Key Sectors

The strategy sets out plans to reduce emissions from key sectors of the UK economy to ensure that the UK remains on track for net zero by 2050. By Conrad Andersen, John Balsdon, David Berman, Paul A. Davies, Nicola Higgs, Sam Newhouse, Simon J. Tysoe, Michael D. Green, James Bee, and Anne Mainwaring On 19 … Continue Reading

ESG Toolkit Expands for European PE

By Paul A. Davies, Tom Evans, Nicola Higgs, Farah O’Brien, David Walker, Michael Green, Hannah Berdal, Anne Mainwaring, and Catherine Campbell Green shoots emerge as PE firms consider new ways to incorporate ESG into dealmaking. Market sentiment and the increasing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) to firms’ competitiveness across the market, combined with … Continue Reading

Greek Sustainability Initiative Promotes Cooperation Between Competitors

The initiative includes a competition law sustainability “sandbox” in which market participants could team up to work on sustainable business projects. By David Little and Pierre Bichet The Greek Competition Authority (HCC) has announced a public consultation on how competition law rules might be adapted to promote more sustainable business practices. The HCC published a … Continue Reading

China’s War on Pollution Hits M&A Deal Environment

By Paul Davies, Richard Butterwick, Terry Charalambous, and Catherine Campbell In recent years, China has taken significant steps in developing its environmental policy. In 2014, China’s Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war on pollution”, which began in earnest in 2017. Since then, regulators have been more proactive in enforcing environmental regulations. Factory closures have become a … Continue Reading

China’s War on Pollution Hits Private Equity Deal Environment

By Paul Davies and Catherine Campbell In recent years, China has taken significant steps in developing its environmental policy. In 2014 China’s Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war on pollution”, which began in earnest in 2017. Since then, regulators have been more proactive in enforcing environmental regulations. Factory closures have become a key part of … Continue Reading

European Court of Justice Delivers Victory for EU Transparency and Accountability

Landmark ruling requires the European Commission to disclose impact assessments used as a basis for its legislative decision-making process. By Antonio Morales and Rosa Espín The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union recently issued a landmark judgment finding that impact assessments should be considered public documents. This decision sets a … Continue Reading

President Xi Jinping Pledges Sustainable Development to Build a “Beautiful China”

By Paul Davies, Bridget Rose Reineking and Andrew Westgate At the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping asserted his country’s emerging leadership in environmental stewardship and pledged to build a “beautiful China”. In his speech to the 2,300 delegates and guests assembled for the Congress’s opening session, President Xi lauded China’s … Continue Reading

Portuguese Children Crowdfund Climate Change Suit Against 47 Countries

By Paul Davies and Michael Green Six Portuguese children are raising funds to sue 47 European countries, asserting that their right to life has been threatened because governments have allegedly failed to adequately deal with climate change. With the support of lawyers from the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), the children will ask nations in … Continue Reading

UK Launches Taskforce to Encourage Growth of Green Finance

By Paul Davies and Michael Green The UK government has announced that it is bringing together a new taskforce led by senior financiers in order to encourage the growth of “green finance”. The taskforce, which will be chaired by Sir Roger Gifford, former lord mayor of London, has six months to develop proposals aimed at … Continue Reading

China’s Pilot Programmes Welcome Announced Launch of Emissions Trading System

By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate Chinese policymakers have indicated that the country’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) — which will be the largest system of its kind globally and the centerpiece of Chinese climate change policy — is likely to launch in November 2017 “at the very earliest”. The delay will enable China to announce … Continue Reading

G20 Advances Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth

By Paul Davies, Michael Green  and Ei Nge Htut On 8 July 2017, the G20 summit in Hamburg issued a Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth (the Plan). The Plan reaffirms the commitment of the countries (excluding the United States (US) — which announced its intended withdrawal from the Paris Agreement) to work together to … Continue Reading

Will TCFD Final Recommendations Change the Landscape of Climate-related Financial Disclosure?

By Paul Davies, Michael Green and Ei Nge Htut On 29 June 2017, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) published its final recommendations. The TCFD set out information that companies should disclose to enable investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters to better understand how companies oversee and manage climate-related financial risk. Ultimately, the aim is to … Continue Reading

Will China Become the Global Leader on Climate Change?

By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate  Climate change has become a key concern for China in recent years, as evidenced by its pledge to reduce carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60% from 2015 levels by 2030. As we have previously written, it has also become a leader in the emerging field of green … Continue Reading

Potential Liability for Ignoring Non-Financial Factors in Investment Starts With Climate Change

By Paul Davies and Michael Green Commercial risks to businesses can no longer be neatly divided into financial and non-financial considerations. For example, there is growing recognition, particularly in the pensions sector, that a failure to take account for environmental and social governance (ESG) risks (in particular, climate change risks) can result in adverse financial … Continue Reading

Swift Ratification of Paris Climate Agreement

By Paul Davies and Michael Green The Paris Climate Agreement (Agreement) officially enters into force today, 30 days after it was ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, representing at least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. From today, the provisions within the Agreement will be legally binding upon, and … Continue Reading
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