Herbert Smith Freehills consultant Justine Sweet and senior associate Mandy Hattingh have authored the Law and Practice section of the South Africa chapter in the 2022 Chambers Global Practice Guide on Environmental Law. The new Environmental Law 2022 guide features 19 jurisdictions. The guide provides the latest legal information on environmental incidents, permits and damage; … Read more

There are so many ESG-related publications and developments that it is hard to keep abreast of them all. For this reason, HSF publishes a monthly tracker of ESG-related publications and developments, with a primary focus on developments that may be of most interest to or impact our clients in the Southern African Development Community, be … Read more

Final days Negotiations at COP 27 spilled over into the weekend and finished more than 36 hours later than expected. Whilst agreement was met on many key issues, there were multiple points that remained contentious. These include: A resolution that peak emissions should occur in 2025 (and that after that date, world emissions should start … Read more

Release of the draft text Thursday 17 November saw the UN climate agency publish the draft text of the COP27 overarching agreement, the focus of the last week of negotiations and the document that will symbolise COP27 for years to come. The text appeared to still be in a very preliminary stage and many voiced … Read more

Day 9 – “Biodiversity Day” On Wednesday, the focus at COP 27 was on climate change’s impacts on biodiversity and endangered species, and on the link between climate change and nature and ecosystem-based solutions. Dedicated sessions and meetings discussed the need for integrated responses to climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as solutions to … Read more

Day 8 – “Civil Society” day Civil society was the focus today, with discussions on the role of civil society in shaping the global climate agenda and implementation of the pledges. Sessions were aimed to promote engagement of and with civil society, and localisation of climate action through a people-centred and all of society approach. … Read more

Decarbonisation day Friday 11 November was “decarbonisation day” and focused on solutions to reduce emissions from carbon intensive industries, such as the steel, oil and gas sectors. The day brought together policy makers, scientists and industry representatives in an effort to promote collaboration on innovative solutions to reduce carbon emissions. Key events included: Renewable Hydrogen: … Read more