Sharing our knowledge and expertise
Explore our insights on climate change, business & human rights, sustainable finance, inclusion & diversity, energy transition, and more.
Explore our insights on climate change, business & human rights, sustainable finance, inclusion & diversity, energy transition, and more.
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, overruled the landmark 40-year-old Chevron decision that required federal courts to defer to a federal agency's reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes.
Find out more about U.S. Supreme Court reels in federal agency interpretation power, overturning Chevron Doctrine, and lengthens deadline for bringing challengesThis briefing considers the court’s decision in Finch and its potential implications for business.
find out moreIn this article, we explore nature-related risks and the practical steps which can be taken by directors (including representatives of financial investors) to assist with their assessment and mitigation of these risks to avoid consequences such as penalties from regulators and the risk of litigation.
Find out more about Australia: Directors' Duties and Nature Related RisksThe UK Government has published proposals for a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to deal with carbon leakage while the UK decarbonises. The proposals have similarities to the EU CBAM but there are some key differences. This briefing explores the UK proposals which are subject to consultation, and some of those differences.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are having a significant impact on businesses globally. We look ahead and assess the challenges and opportunities on a range of strategic issues, from regulations on corporate sustainability reporting and transition planning, the evolution of sustainable finance and the role of carbon markets in funding net zero, to the increase in ESG-related litigation.
Find out more about Sustainability & ESG Trends 2024The energy transition requires a massive and increased rate of investment from both the public and the private sectors. Here we explore some trends which will shape the year ahead, focusing on the innovations and legal developments that we are seeing in clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, green fuels, carbon pricing, digital transformation, innovative finance and incentives to mobilise capital.
Find out moreWith increasing global demand for batteries to power the clean energy transition, the opportunities and risks are multiplying. New technology, new markets and ...
An international framework aimed at the eradication of forced labour across the world has long been in place, set out in ILO Conventions and embraced within UN...
In a landmark judgment, for the first time the UK Supreme Court has decided that, when assessing the environmental impacts of an oil extraction project, the pl...
Australian companies are increasingly vulnerable to risks associated with the natural environment. Although climate-related regulation is increasing, the strat...
On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted long-awaited disclosure requirements to enhance and standardize the climate-...
The finalised Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework has been published and establishes a new standard for disclosure on nature and...
As businesses seek new ways to work together to improve environmental sustainability, navigating diverging approaches to competition law in different juri...
On 30 November 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation to create a first EU-wide voluntary framework that would certify high-qua...
Energy security and affordability have become a major issue for many countries. Rising inflation, increasingly frequent and significant climate events, and an ...
Clifford Chance, in cooperation with the UK Voluntary Carbon Market Forum and the City of London Corporation, is pleased to announce the launch of its report 'Enabling the Voluntary Carbon Market in the Context of the Paris Agreement'.
On 18 July 2022, the High Court declared that the UK's Net Zero Strategy is, in part, unlawful and ordered the Secretary of State to revise it by March 2023. I...
There's a new hope in the battle against climate change from somewhere you might not expect. In-house counsel are stepping up to become agents for change in their organization. In this fifth episode of the Clifford Chance podcast series 'The Climate Lawyer', host Richard Kim (counsel, Düsseldorf) is joined by Adam Woodhall, founder and CEO of Lawyers for Net Zero, a non-profit that helps guide in-house counsel on their climate journeys.
There's no path to net zero without innovation, and nobody knows innovation like venture capital. What does it mean to be a climate VC investor? Find out in the fourth episode of The Clifford Chance Podcast series, 'The Climate Lawyer', where host Richard Kim (counsel, Düsseldorf) is joined by Mona Alsubaei, a member of the investment team at Union Square Ventures (USV) and specialist in climate tech investing.
The UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has published a second consultation on the proposed UK mandatory forest-risk commodities due diligence...
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced that it will impose mandatory climate-related financial disclosure duties on l...
A broad range of services – from digital and telecommunications services to engineering, cloud storage and artificial intelligence (AI) – will play an integral...
Clifford Chance has collaborated with the World Economic Forum on the publication, Delivering a Trade and Climate Agenda. The report finds that while businesses are actively pursuing emissions reductions, action on trade policy can help accelerate this shift. The report outlines eight ways in which trade policy can help businesses accelerate the transition to net-zero.
Italy had seemed to be one step behind other countries where climate change litigation is concerned, with no climate-related litigation having been commenced i...
In this extract from our recent Perspectives webinar, we explore some of the major themes that came out of COP28, including renewable energy, financing and wha...
As world leaders gather at COP28 in Dubai, there is widespread acknowledgment of the scale of action required to address climate change by accelerating the dev...
COP28 – the 28th annual United Nations climate meeting – takes place in Dubai from 30 November, but what can realistically be achieved against a backdrop of in...
Ahead of COP28, we set out our thoughts on the new generation of debt-for-nature swaps which have recently come to market and look forward to their full potent...
The MENA region is experiencing rapid growth in green loans and sustainability-linked loans with issuers/borrowers ranging from sovereign wealth funds and GREs...
The EU has adopted a Regulation establishing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to deal with the long-standing problem of ‘carbon leakage’ that impede...
On 30 November 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation to create a first EU-wide voluntary framework that would certify high-qua...
A key hydrogen trend to focus on for 2023 is "trade". The industry has gone from concentrating on the "colour" (i.e., grey, blue and green...
Agreement was reached by 190 countries on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) on 19 December 2022, after two weeks of negotiations at COP1...
COP27 – the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties – is intended to build on the work that took place at COP26 last year and move on from pledges to imple...
COP-26 was an opportunity for states, NGOs, the business community and the public to come together to discuss, debate and develop solutions to the climate crisis.
COP26, has been described as the 'last best hope" to avert climate disaster. In this extract from a recent Clifford Chance event, moderated by Partner an...
In chasing down opportunities to invest in the energy transition, private capital is increasingly focused on unlocking the investment potential offered by alte...
Singapore's eligibility list for international carbon credits (ICCs), published shortly after the announcement of its successful Article 6 Paris Agreement coll...
The German Government has announced that it will enable Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and facilitate Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) on an industrial s...
Japan is promoting international supply chains for low-carbon hydrogen and derivatives. The immaturity of the markets for the supply of hydrogen and its deriva...
Demand for e-fuels and biofuels is rocketing. Last year, the EU enacted new regulations in the aviation and shipping industries designed to force airlines and ...
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, overruled the landmark 40-year-old Chevron decision that required federal courts to defer to a federal...
Interest in carbon markets is growing across the globe. Singapore has led the way in carbon regulation in South-East Asia and has been proactive in seeking opp...
Australia's Future Gas Strategy was released on 9 May 2024 and recognises the important role of Australian gas and LNG in expediting the transition to net zero...
HMRC has published new guidance on the VAT treatment of voluntary carbon credits, correcting the anomalous distinction between voluntary and compliance market ...
The UK Government has published proposals for a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to deal with carbon leakage while the UK decarbonises. The proposa...
The Morocco Offer (l'Offre Maroc) is the most significant step forward to date for the green hydrogen sector in Morocco and covers the entire green hydrog...
On 22 January 2024, China officially relaunched the China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) scheme, which is a milestone step in establishing the voluntary c...
The German Government has announced that it will enable Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and facilitate Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) on an industrial s...
With increasing global demand for offshore wind to power the clean energy transition, the opportunities and risks are multiplying. Offshore wind has long been ...
The EU has recently adopted new legislation on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the transport sector. The new rules include important technical cri...
Explore our 2024 Energy Transition Trends amid global uncertainty, elections, climate pledge post-COP28, green tech advancements, carbon pricing, CCUS growth, green fuels, digital transformation, finance innovations & capital incentives..
On December 22, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced Proposed Treasury Regulations (the "Proposed Rules&qu...
Geothermal energy is among the oldest types of power harnessed by humans. It holds a unique place in the energy mix, thanks to being entirely independent of we...
As world leaders gather at COP28 in Dubai, there is widespread acknowledgment of the scale of action required to address climate change by accelerating the dev...
The global rise in renewable energy projects has brought into focus the need to decommission ageing fossil fuel assets effectively and sustainably. Decommissio...
On 29 August 2023, the European Commission (the Commission) published the terms and conditions of the EU Hydrogen Bank's (EHB) first pilot auction with an Inno...
Decommissioning is an integral part of the energy transition. The move by oil & gas companies to decarbonise their operations often leads to a transfer of ...
The tender principles for the Princess Elisabeth Zone are gradually taking shape following a recent stakeholder dialogue. This briefing provides an overview o...
The Ministry of Energy of Romania has published the first draft of its long-awaited Hydrogen Strategy and Action Plan for 2023-2030. This is a positive step fo...
With increasing global demand for batteries to power the clean energy transition, the opportunities and risks are multiplying. New technology, new markets and new deals, including those associated with mineral extraction, human rights and the supply chain, regulatory changes and the race to find funding are giving rise to a number of issues for businesses to grapple with.
197 Governments (and the European Union) have ratified or acceded to the Paris Agreement, pledging to pursue efforts to limit the global temperature rise to 1....
Decommissioning is an integral part of the international energy transition, and of the global push to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and a carbon ne...
One of the first measures announced by the European Commission President von der Leyen, in her September 2022 State of the Union speech, was the creation of a ...
The European Commission (the Commission) has issued proposals aiming to broadly equalise Europe's net zero industry with the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) a...
The Moroccan Government has undertaken a wide-ranging reform of the legal framework governing the renewable energy sector, including a new regime for self-gene...
A number of countries in Africa have been identified as future sources of supply of clean hydrogen due to an abundance of land suitable for the production of w...
Three years after the Cabinet presented its Cabinet Vision on Hydrogen (Kabinetsvisie waterstof), the Dutch Government has taken significant steps in developin...
What are the key trends for global disputes and international arbitration for the energy sector in 2023 and beyond? In our inaugural Energy Arbitration Trends ...
Certification schemes for clean hydrogen are being proposed in many countries to help markets develop, by providing certainty as to where the hydrogen has been...
On 30 November 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation to create a first EU-wide voluntary framework that would certify high-qua...
Energy security and affordability have become a major issue for many countries. Rising inflation, increasingly frequent and significant climate events, and an ...
Belgium has published its long-awaited H2 midstream regulation. A draft proposal has been endorsed by the federal parliament's energy commission and will ...
A key hydrogen trend to focus on for 2023 is "trade". The industry has gone from concentrating on the "colour" (i.e., grey, blue and green...
Although green hydrogen production and use is still at an early stage of development and a European package is being put into place for hydrogen regulation (sp...
The development of a clean hydrogen ecosystem in Europe is critical to ensure that the projected increases in hydrogen supply and demand are realised which are...
The Japanese government has set ambitious goals for a carbon-neutral future to enhance its energy security. It plans to establish a full-scale international hy...
We are pleased to present this briefing regarding the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "IRA"), which Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) described as &q...
As part of the Federal Government's crackdown on greenwashing, an independent review of the Australian Carbon Credit Units regime will be carried out by former...
As the UK strives towards its ambitious target of 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, large-scale investment will be required in the offshore wind industry...
The transition from fossil fuels to clean energy to address the climate crisis was never going to be easy and involves expensive trade-offs between economics a...
While Northern Europe and the UK started investing in offshore wind more than 20 years ago, France was slow off the mark. Now, that is about to change, as the ...
In a race to ensure it is on track to meet its net zero targets by 2050, the Government has announced the publication of its new British Energy Security Strate...
There remains a narrow window of opportunity for timely action to address the climate crisis and still meet the Paris Agreement targets. The necessary transiti...
In March 2022, in response to the unprecedented energy price crisis, the European Commission presented REPowerEU, a new set of proposed measures to create...
Ahead of its Presidency of COP26, the UK Government has published its Net Zero Strategy to 2050. The Strategy covers all business sectors and some cross-cuttin...
The European Commission has published a proposal for a Regulation on a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to deal with the long-standing problem of 'car...
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published its strategy setting out the path to decarbonising industry, aiding the goal...
As sustainable investing continues to become more mainstream globally, ESG ratings and data products play an increasingly central role in the sustainable finan...
In April 2024, all three securities exchanges in China issued their respective guidelines on corporate sustainability reporting (each a CSR Guideline), which t...
Sustainability reporting aims to provide a company's stakeholders with information on what it sees as the risks and opportunities arising from ESG issues, incl...
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, overruled the landmark 40-year-old Chevron decision that required federal courts to defer to a federal...
According to a report by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (“Eurojust”) dated January 2021, environmental crime has been expanding rap...
In 2023, the global mining disputes landscape continued to grow. Underpinned by an increasing demand for critical minerals worldwide, and in an environment of heightened sovereign and regulatory risk, this year is no different. This blog post highlights two key trends that mining investors around the world are likely to experience in the second half of 2024 and beyond and how recourse to commercial or investor-State arbitration can mitigate risks.
Australian companies are increasingly vulnerable to risks associated with the natural environment. Although climate-related regulation is increasing, the strat...
On 23 April 2024, the FCA issued Finalised Guidance (Guidance) on the ‘anti-greenwashing rule’. The Guidance takes into account feedback received by the FCA in...
After months of political wrangling, EU member states have finally reached agreement on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D). On 15 Marc...
On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted long-awaited disclosure requirements to enhance and standardize the climate-...
On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-to-2 to adopt long-awaited disclosure rules and form amendments designed to enhance and ...
In November 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the final rules for its new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements regime (SDR). Firms a...
Ahead of COP28, we set out our thoughts on the new generation of debt-for-nature swaps which have recently come to market and look forward to their full potent...
The MENA region is experiencing rapid growth in green loans and sustainability-linked loans with issuers/borrowers ranging from sovereign wealth funds and GREs...
The ISSB has published two new sustainability disclosure standards establishing a global baseline that is comprehensive and compatible with existing frameworks...
Driven by the energy transition, national security concerns, and commitments to support domestic production, countries are increasingly taking measures to develop green economies and energy systems at home.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations have an increasing impact on all businesses, globally. Here we take a look at the some of the issues...
ESG disclosures, data product and ratings providers and 'greenwashing' will be in the regulatory spotlight in 2023, as financial regulators seek to implement m...
Companies are faced with increasing challenges from internal and external forces, meaning that policies and initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclu...
Belgium has published its long-awaited H2 midstream regulation. A draft proposal has been endorsed by the federal parliament's energy commission and will ...
Agreement was reached by 190 countries on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) on 19 December 2022, after two weeks of negotiations at COP1...
On January 10, 2023, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") issued its 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program ...
The European Commission has proposed a long-awaited legislative update aimed at reducing packaging waste across the EU as part of efforts to create a...
Company boards are increasingly seeing ESG as a legal issue and the role of the in-house legal team is changing as it deals with a growing workload to manage r...
The fashion industry is intrinsically evolving as the most coveted patterns and textures ebb with the tide of public opinion. While these shifts occur, the phy...
ESG issues are having a significant impact on businesses globally. Against the prevailing backdrop of continued political and economic uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions, we look ahead and assess the challenges and opportunities on a range of strategic issues, from regulations on corporate sustainability reporting and transition planning, the evolution of sustainable finance and the role of carbon markets in funding net zero, to the increase in ESG-related litigation.
Find out more about Sustainability & ESG Trends 2024This paper considers the state of the Paris mechanisms and the VCM, examines actual and perceived barriers to its scaling and identifies recommendations for the way forward.
Read the reportThis report draws attention to the human rights strategies developed by all 22 cities across the United Bid, recognizing the important work done by a wide range of contributors and the key commitments and undertakings of the cities. The city submissions, which are publicly available, are voluminous, and this report aims to present the information in ways that will increase the accessibility of the material to a wide variety of stakeholders.
Learn more