The regular session of the Texas Legislature came to a fraught end on May 31, 2021. The political spectacle in recent days capped off a legislative session dramatically interrupted by a winter storm in February that crippled much of the state with snow, ice, and power outages. That natural disaster led to intense scrutiny of … Continue Reading
On Earth Day, April 22, 2021, President Biden announced that the U.S. will aim to cut carbon emissions in half by the year 2030 compared to 2005 levels. This is significantly higher even than goals established by President Obama during his tenure. The virtual Leaders Summit on Climate where the announcement was made took place … Continue Reading
Last week the EU Commission announced that the ‘public consultation’ phase of its Sustainable Products Initiative is now open. This begins the next step in the process, following the conclusion of the ‘feedback period’, which closed in November 2020. More detail on what the Commission aims to achieve through this initiative is available in our … Continue Reading
Beginning in May 2021, California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) enforcement staff will begin additional analysis of fuel samples taken during ocean-going vessel inspections. CARB is seeking to improve compliance due to changing international regulatory sulfur limits, which has created situations where a vessel’s fuel may meet international and California regulatory sulfur limits, but not meet … Continue Reading
In our “What to expect in 2021” blog, one cross-sectoral EU initiative we flagged was forthcoming Commission proposals for far-reaching new EU-wide Sustainable Corporate Governance requirements. Here are some more details of what that might entail. Background Recent studies have suggested that companies performing well on ESG factors outperform their peers and that those with … Continue Reading
On November 7, 2020, Joe Biden became the projected President-elect of the United States. With an aggressive climate change plan that includes rejoining the Paris Agreement on the first day of his term, President-elect Biden and his administration will likely make significant changes to environmental, health, and safety rules and policies that will rollback Trump … Continue Reading
