A new report by ShareAction, a charity and pressure group, reflects growing demands for companies to disclose ESG and climate-related information. By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green Background Pressure continues to grow on asset managers and their advisors to incorporate companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and climate risks in their screening … Continue Reading
Landmark ruling requires the European Commission to disclose impact assessments used as a basis for its legislative decision-making process. By Antonio Morales and Rosa Espín The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union recently issued a landmark judgment finding that impact assessments should be considered public documents. This decision sets a … Continue Reading
The precedent-setting legislation establishes a comprehensive liability scheme for soil contamination, increasing fines for pollution violations while creating tax benefits for remediating contaminated properties. By Paul Davies, Andrew Westgate, and Kimberly Leefatt The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s highest legislative body, passed the nation’s first law dedicated to soil protection and pollution … Continue Reading
Risk and opportunities come with ESG commitments, which include advancing the SDGs. By Sara K. Orr, Kristina S. Wyatt, and Bobbi-Jo B. Dobush In a recent article, Latham lawyers highlighted the increasing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in corporate decision-making and how companies are linking ESG issues to the United Nations’ 2030 … Continue Reading
Companies with stronger ESG standards usually perform better financially, according to recent research. By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green A recent report by Axioma, provider of enterprise market risk and portfolio analytics solutions, found that companies with better environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards “…often outperform the market” and exceed their financial … Continue Reading
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Lauren Glaser, Natalie C. Rogers, and Jennifer K. Roy In a partially published opinion issued April 4, 2018, Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute v. City and County of San Francisco, Case No. CPF14513453, the California Court of … Continue Reading
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Robert C. Hull, and Natalie C. Rogers In an unpublished opinion issued January 31, 2018, Citizens for Open & Public Participation v. City of Montebello, Case No. B277060, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of … Continue Reading
Upcoming regulation will impact warnings for food and alcoholic beverage products. By Michael G. Romey, Lucas I. Quass, and James A. Erselius Latham’s previous blog posts provided an overview of some of the significant changes that will occur as a result of the new California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) regulations (the … Continue Reading
New policy supports China’s effort against soil pollution by targeting land used for agriculture and development. By Paul A. Davies and R. Andrew Westgate The Chinese government has announced that land used for agriculture and development in China will be subject to a new contamination and control standard, effective August 2018. The standard will set … Continue Reading
Increasingly, financial institutions are looking to align business decisions with environmental principles. By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green ABN AMRO, ING, and Rabobank have teamed up to publish guidelines for investing in the circular economy. The banks have designed the guidelines to help financial services companies around the globe transition towards a circular … Continue Reading
Trump Administration is weighing potentially comprehensive overhaul to regulations governing federal environmental review to cut red tape and avoid excessive delay to process. By Janice M. Schneider, Tommy P. Beaudreau, Jennifer K. Roy, Bobbi-Jo B. Dobush, and Diego Enrique Flores The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently published an Advance Notice of Proposed … Continue Reading
Companies should conduct thorough due diligence in light of closer scrutiny from stakeholders and governmental and non-governmental bodies. By James Inness and Natasha Hamilton-Foyn Companies are facing increasing pressure to report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters in terms of their legal obligations, stakeholder pressure, and reputational issues. Companies are subject to both mandatory … Continue Reading
New requirements build on China’s rapid progress in green finance to increase transparency across the market By Paul Davies, Bridget Reineking and Andrew Westgate The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), in collaboration with China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, has introduced new requirements that, by 2020, will mandate all listed companies and bond issuers to disclose environmental, … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Bridget Reineking, and Andrew Westgate China has issued numerous green policies in an effort to support President Xi’s signature “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which aims to mitigate environmental and social risks arising from China’s overseas lending. Although few of these policies are legally binding, they reflect China’s heightened focus on environmental … Continue Reading
By James Barrett, Paul Davies and Michael Green The Equator Principle Association has committed to revise the Equator Principles (EPs) for the first time since 2013. The EPs provide a voluntary risk management framework for determining, assessing, and managing environmental and social risk for certain project finance transactions. More than 90 financial institutions in 37 … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Bridget Reineking, and Andrew Westgate The Chinese government has announced a US$4 trillion investment in developing infrastructure globally under the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). Under the BRI the Chinese government will spend US$750 billion on overseas investments in the next five years alone. Although China often cites the BRI as the … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green On 13 July 2017, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) launched guidance on incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) provisions in private equity fund terms. The publication, Incorporating Responsible Investment Requirements into Private Equity Fund Terms (the Guidance), followed a year-long consultation period with PRI signatories, expert counsel, and industry … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The High Level Expert Group on sustainable finance (the Group), which the European Commission (the EC) established, published its interim report on 13 July 2017. The report sets out the key steps required to create a financial system that supports sustainable investment, as well as identifying areas for financial … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The European Commission has recently published plans to integrate sustainability considerations into decisions made by investors within the EU. More specifically, the EU is looking to spell out in legislation, that the consideration of ESG issues should be incorporated into the fiduciary duties of EU asset managers. The main … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Aaron Franklin Royal Philips, a health technology company, has recently agreed to an innovative revolving credit facility agreement with a margin linked to the company’s year-on-year sustainability performance improvement. The agreement was entered into by a consortium of 16 international banks (led by ING, as Sustainability Coordinator) and provides for a … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report (OECD Report) on investment governance and integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on 2 May 2017. The OECD Report develops work already carried out by the organisation on the regulation of investment companies and pension fund … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green Commercial risks to businesses can no longer be neatly divided into financial and non-financial considerations. For example, there is growing recognition, particularly in the pensions sector, that a failure to take account for environmental and social governance (ESG) risks (in particular, climate change risks) can result in adverse financial … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green A new pensions directive was passed by the European Parliament on 24 November securing 512 votes (only 77 votes against and 40 abstentions), requiring EU workplace pension funds to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. This is considered a ‘landmark’ moment for responsible investment. The new pensions directive … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies Unprecedented globalisation, coupled with significant concerns around climate change, has taken environmental and social responsibility from a voluntary concept to something more obligatory and enforceable. Consequently, corporate governance has increasingly become a binding legal obligation in a number of jurisdictions. Demonstrable of such progression, the EU Directive 2014/95 will be enforced from … Continue Reading
