Board members are expected to have adequate knowledge and understanding of climate-related and ESG risks.
By Nicola Higgs, Paul A. Davies, and David Berman
Legislators and regulators around the world have long recognised that one of the most effective ways to drive change is by focusing the minds of management — specifically by attaching individual accountability for ensuring that an organisation meets expected standards. Transitioning to net-zero carbon emissions has now become a critical priority for many governments, and the spotlight is shining on the boards of financial institutions and companies to drive that change.
This blog post highlights recent developments in the EU in this regard. At a time when standards on climate and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are converging globally, these developments will be informative to global organisations wanting to embed best practices in governing the transition. Continue Reading
On May 20, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law 
On May 20, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into effect an Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk (Executive Order) aimed at addressing the threat that climate change poses to US financial stability. The Executive Order requires federal agencies, including financial regulators, to undertake work to advance clear and comparable disclosure of climate-related financial risks and act to mitigate such risk and its drivers.
The right to regulate subject to due process constraints is a foundation of public utility law. This article examines the extent to which a regulatory agency can restrict and ultimately terminate a utility’s operations based on public policy considerations. This issue has arisen in industries confronted with disruptive technological and regulatory change such as deregulation of wholesale natural gas pricing, termination of the vertical integration of electric utilities, broadcast television displacement by cable television, cable television displacement by satellite and internet video communications, and wire-line telephone displacement by wireless and internet communications. While these changes were disruptive at the time, they also presented new opportunities for utilities nimble enough to take advantage of them. None represented a regulator’s judgment that a utility should cease operations.
On 21 April 2021, one day prior to Earth Day and a US-led global climate summit, the European Commission adopted a much-anticipated 
The huge rise in popularity of Bitcoin — and the growing interest by mainstream financial institutions in virtual assets as an investable and tradable asset class — has shone a light on the cryptocurrency industry’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.
On 21 March 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) announced that China is working with the European Union to adopt a common green taxonomy across the two markets later this year. PBC Governor Yi Gang, speaking at the China Development Forum, said strengthening the nation’s green finance system was the central bank’s priority for the next five years.
Mark Twain is often credited with saying, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” This remains true in California, where drought conditions, climate change, and population growth throughout the state’s history have made water an increasingly valuable and regulated resource. The legal landscape involves complex questions related to water quality, water sustainability, and competing claims to water rights. One notable area of controversy involves the adequacy of water supply for new development projects.
On March 17, 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) 
