At the launch of the World Meteorological Organisation’s State of the Global Climate 2021 Report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that renewable energy technologies, such as battery storage, should be treated as essential and freely-available global public goods. Read more

The Queen’s Speech delivered on 10 May 2022 announced a new energy bill (the “Bill“), which expands on the UK Government’s Energy Security Strategy, announced in April 2022. The Bill aims to reduce the UK’s exposure to the volatility of global gas prices, focuses on developing an energy system based on renewable energy and low … Read more

The London planning team at Herbert Smith Freehills has a new blog called Energy and Infrastructure Consenting Notes, focused on infrastructure planning in the UK. The team has promoted some of the biggest and most high-profile nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) applications to go through the Planning Act 2008 process, from the Hinkley Point and … Read more

On 7 March 2022, the Department for Transport published a summary of the responses to its recent consultation on the introduction of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate. The summary details replies from 79 respondents, who included airlines, airports, trade associations and fuel producers and suppliers. Jet Zero consultation The consultation arose out of a … Read more

The post below was first published on our Policy matters blog here. Amid soaring prices, political obstacles and pressure for enhanced security, the Government’s new energy playbook needs more than eye-catching targets to tackle the key issues. Read more

At the end of March, the UK Government published its long-awaited consultation on the further development of the UK ETS (the “Consultation“), indicating the future capacity and scope of the UK scheme. The UK ETS was launched on 1 January 2021 to replace Great Britain’s participation in the EU ETS after the end of the … Read more

The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has published the first draft of its Nature-related Risk & Opportunity Management and Disclosure Framework (TNFD Framework); which, together with subsequent drafts, will be open to feedback from market participants for the next 18 months. The TNFD is aiming to publish a usable framework and set of recommendations … Read more

Australia has made significant strides in its offshore wind industry in recent weeks, with the regulatory regime expected to commence on 2 June 2022. Victoria has announced Australia’s first offshore wind energy targets, and the Commonwealth Government released the exposure draft of the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Regulations 2022 for public comment. These are important steps … Read more