Our series on climate disputes finds the UK, Australia and the US placing high hurdles to successful investor claims but the risk is growing. Recent years have shown a rise in activist shareholders striving to shape corporate conduct around ESG matters, particularly climate change. Institutional investors are increasingly backing such initiatives, driven by the need to … 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

On Monday, March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued highly anticipated proposed rules that would require the disclosure of climate-related information by domestic and foreign public companies in their registration statements and periodic SEC filings.  At present, members of the public have 60 days to submit comments to the SEC on … Read more

As the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26 or the Conference) draws near, the spotlight on international efforts to tackle climate change intensifies. COP26 is an important Conference for many reasons, one of which is that it will be the first Conference at which new and/or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) will be discussed. WHAT ARE … Read more

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There is increasing interest in the role Nature-based Solutions’ (“NbS”) are to play in adaptation and mitigation of climate change at COP26. Its role, especially in the context of Article 6 relating to carbon markets, will be of critical concern to many countries and blocs especially Brazil and the African Group of Negotiators. … Read more

The COP26 Private Finance Hub was set up to help bridge the gap between the Paris Agreement targets and the very significant changes across world economies that are required to meet those targets. It is led by Mark Carney, and its objective for COP26 is to ensure that every professional financial decision takes climate change … Read more

Expecting rich nations to pay for ‘loss and damage’ of unavoidable climate change impact is fine in theory but torturous in practice. Much of the discourse underlying the debate on the most appropriate method to combat climate change has centred on the idea that those who have contributed to it most significantly ought to be … Read more