The new financing initiative aims to enhance collaboration amongst export credit agency and development finance institutions to support financing for critical mineral projects.

By Tom Bartlett, JP Sweny, Alexander Buckeridge-Hocking, and Samuel Burleton

The Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network (MSPFN), a joint financing body, was announced by the United States, the European Commission, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, and nine other nations on 23 September 2024 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

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Goods imported into the UK from countries with a lower or no carbon price will face a levy by 2027.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 18 December 2023, the UK government announced a proposal for a new carbon border adjustment mechanism (UK CBAM). The announcement follows extensive consultation earlier this year on possible measures to mitigate carbon leakage risks and aims to support the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.

The UK has made a number of decarbonisation commitments including reaching net zero by 2050. These commitments to decarbonise can be undermined by “carbon leakage”, in which production of goods and associated emissions move from a jurisdiction with more ambitious climate policies (which add costs to carbon-intensive processes) to another jurisdiction with less ambitious policies, resulting in an overall negative impact on the carbon intensity of the processes/goods themselves. The UK CBAM (or other form of carbon tax) seeks to address this issue by aiming to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of certain carbon-intensive goods entering the UK.

The government published a new document outlining its existing and proposed objectives to develop the UK’s sustainable economy.

By Paul A. DaviesMichael 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.