Photo of Nicolas Walker

We are not expecting further big climate reduction commitments from countries this year at COP27. The leaders of China and Russia (the world’s first- and fifth-largest climate polluters) are not attending the event, nor are officials from many of the largest economies, including India and Australia. U.S. President Joseph Biden will make only a short

On the back of unfortunate geopolitical developments this year, which have drastically changed the path to a carbon-neutral economy, we are pleased to present “Energy transition – An evolving journey” – a thought leadership campaign containing practical insights on the trends, opportunities and challenges in the energy industry going forward.

Please see link to the

On 14 September 2020, the European Commission published its “Sustainable Products Initiative”, which aims to revise the existing Ecodesign Directive in order to meet the product sustainability objectives set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan.

The Circular Economy Action Plan seeks to make products fit for a climate neutral, resource efficient

In a historic act, U.S. EPA proposed the nation’s first-ever greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standard for aircraft on July 21, 2020. (Proposed Rule). Once the Proposed Rule is published in the Federal Register, the public will have 60 days to submit comments. There will likely be significant push back from environmental groups on the Proposed Rule; so it may be important to provide industry comments, where appropriate. U.S. EPA has stated it is hoping to issue a final rule in 2021.
Continue Reading U.S. EPA takes historic action on aviation emissions

Our EU law environmental and product regulatory teams have been following the passage of a significant new law through the French parliament: ‘the Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Bill’ (Projet de loi relatif à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire) (the Bill).

Key features of the Bill include:

  1. Radically expanded obligations for producers in relation to waste management
  2. Introduction of a ‘product lifetime score’ to be displayed on some products
  3. Harmonised waste collection rules
  4. New criminal sanctions for planned obsolescence tactics

Continue Reading Waste and the circular economy: French government proposes to increase liability for waste

Overall, the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (EC No. 1013/2006) (the EWSR) is effective, relevant and coherent, and adds value at the EU level.

Those were the conclusions of the Trinomics study supporting the evaluation by the European Commission of the fitness for purpose of the EWSR (here: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/926420bc-8284-11e9-9f05-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-99087502).

Many in business who have grappled with the EWSR may beg to differ. In fairness, the study did also highlight a number of areas for improvement with which few would disagree, including the need for greater harmonisation of enforcement policy between member states, more consistent application of waste classifications by national authorities, and quicker, less cumbersome notification and approval procedures.

Arguably, however, the most interesting and strategically important challenge facing the EWSR is how it must evolve to support the EU’s Circular Economy plans.Continue Reading Circular Economy and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation: why changes to the latter are critical to the success of the former