A rating agency accepted a preliminary injunction regarding a disputed corporate sustainability rating.
By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, Joachim Grittmann, and Alexander Wilhelm
As reported by a number of German newspapers and the environmental press, a dispute between the US proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and the German industrial image processing company Isra Vision came to a rapid conclusion before the Regional Court of Munich when ISS withdrew its objection against a preliminary injunction. As a result, the relevant ESG rating concerning Isra Vision was not published.
Background
ISS provides ratings and analytical services in respect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters. ISS made a request to Isra Vision to participate in a sustainability review. After Isra Vision did not respond, ISS made its assessment on publicly available material. According to publicly available information, Isra Vision was given the worst rating (D-) in the assessment. As such, Isra Vision sought an injunction against the issuing of the rating. Continue Reading
On 11 March 2020, the European Commission published its 
On 6 March 2020, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a consultation primarily focused on enhancing requirements on certain listed companies to make climate-related disclosures (the Consultation). In particular, it is proposed under the Consultation that such listed companies will be required to state that they have reported in line with the recommendations made by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) or explain why they have not complied with such step. This demonstrates further momentum behind the increasingly widespread adoption of the TCFD recommendations in the public markets (as well as the private markets). 
In R (Plan B Earth and Others) v. Secretary of State for Transport and others, the Court of Appeal in England (the Court) heard an appeal in relation to a judicial review of the UK government’s Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS). The UK government had effectively provided its support for the construction of the third runway at Heathrow under the ANPS, which was the subject of appeal by a number of local authorities and environmental NGOs. In the first instance, these local authorities and NGOs were unsuccessful. However, the Court determined that, in making the ANPS, the Transport Minister had not taken into account the UK’s commitments in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement (the Paris Agreement). Therefore, the ANPS was considered illegal. 
In January 2020, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink circulated his annual letter to CEOs in which he noted, “I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance”. His letter put companies on notice that climate risk and improved ESG disclosures were of fundamental importance to whether companies were “properly managing and overseeing these risks within their business and adequately planning for the future”. Further, where companies do not report such issues robustly, “BlackRock will increasingly conclude that companies are not adequately managing risk”. This message has now been reinforced by a statement issued by three asset owners — the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and the UK Universities Superannuation Scheme (together, the Asset Owners) — in which they noted that companies that seek to maximise revenue without consideration of other stakeholders (e.g., the environment, workers, and communities) will no longer be considered attractive investment targets. 
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has tremendous influence on public utility regulation in California and beyond. The CPUC has the biggest staff of any state utilities commission and has issued fines and penalties well in excess of US$2 billion. The CPUC has been very active with new rulemakings and proceedings that will impact utilities and a range of industries. Because of the CPUC’s outsize influence, many of these new regulatory developments may well be adopted by public utilities or public service commissions in other states. Below are summaries of five key developments at the CPUC. 
On 31 January 2020, the French Constitutional Court (Conseil Constitutionnel) took a decision that aimed to balance the protection of the environment and human health with the freedom of enterprise, both of which are protected under the French Constitution. (
