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Building owners and developers will need to provide energy performance certificates for buildings.

By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green

The European Union has published a directive aimed at improving building energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. EU Member States are required to transpose the directive (Directive (EU) 2018/844) by March 10, 2020.

The directive, published on June 19, 2018, replaces the previous directive on the energy performance of buildings, which was first introduced in 2002 and then recast in 2010. The directive, forms part of the Clean Energy for all Europeans legislative package and is designed to promote energy efficiency in both old and new buildings as well as encourage building renovation. The revised directive is one of the EU’s eight proposals to achieve the Energy Union targets.

Measures aim to establish consistent criteria for sustainable investments, as well as clear market standards for investors.

By Paul A. Davies and Aaron E. Franklin

Overview

The European Commission (EC) has set out its first proposal for “concrete actions” to help the EU financial sector take the lead in establishing a greener economy and supporting the Paris Agreement. These legislative proposals, which were published on 24 May 2018, follow the release of the EC’s Action Plan on sustainable finance on 8 March 2018 (more information on the Action Plan is available in this Latham blog post).

If the changes are adopted, they would be implemented through a series of delegated acts to establish the environmental taxonomy, followed by a fitness check of EU legislation on public corporate reporting and amendments to non-binding guidelines on non-financial reporting. The EC would also adopt a prospectus for green bond issuances and would publish a comprehensive study on sustainability ratings and research. Finally, the EC would create ecolabels for financial products and explore possible measures to see how climate and environmental risks can be incorporated into banks’ risk management policies aligning with the EU taxonomy.

A recent Environmental Code amendment aims to invigorate sluggish legal processes delaying environmental project development.

By Paul A. Davies and Fabrice Fages

Third parties and local NGOs often bring legal action against environmental permits in France, hampering the development of environmental projects in the country. An example of a practical consequence is that the development of a wind farm takes on average between seven and nine years in France, versus three to four years in Germany. In order to limit the impact of drawn-out legal proceedings before administrative courts and allow projects to progress, a 2017 amendment to the Environmental Code (article L.181-18) now affords administrative judges broader powers to give more time and leeway to the authorities to correct a flawed decision or part of a decision before the court simply annuls it.

The Initial Strategy provides the first global climate framework for the shipping sector and will support Paris Agreement targets.

By Paul Davies, Janice Schneider, and Eun-Kyung Lee

Background

In April 2018, the Marine Environmental Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted an initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in international shipping (Initial Strategy). The IMO is a United Nations agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution from ships. The Initial Strategy represents the first global climate framework for shipping. In tangible terms, IMO aims to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, while simultaneously planning to phase GHG emissions out entirely.

Initial Strategy aims and measures

The Initial Strategy consists of (i) a framework for Member States outlining guidelines for the international shipping industry in the future and (ii) short- mid- or long-term measures to reduce GHG emissions. For this purpose, the Initial Strategy determines several “levels of ambition” for the international shipping sector. Levels of ambition directing the Initial Strategy are as follows:

  • Carbon intensity of ships to decline through implementing further phases of the energy efficiency design index (EEDI) for new ships
  • Carbon intensity of international shipping to decline — including reducing CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008
  • GHG emissions from international shipping to peak and decline

By Paul Davies, Antonio Morales, Jörn Kassow, Joachim Grittmann and Cesare Milani

The year ahead presents a series of challenges and opportunities for the development of environmental law across Europe. Notably, the Paris Agreement came into effect on 4 November 2016 and is now binding upon the signatory countries. The European signatory countries will therefore be focusing their efforts on preparing and implementing their plans to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions in accordance with the Agreement. How countries go about this will be key for 2017.

It also means that the EU’s introduction of the Winter Package, will likely intensify the spotlight on energy efficiency in the year ahead. The new European legislation promotes prioritising energy efficiency across the board as being key to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy and in turn, therefore helping to achieve some of the Paris Agreement objectives. We will also need to continue to track the impact of Brexit in respect of regulatory developments in the UK and Europe.

Finally, there are some interesting developments in the context of biodiversity, which could pose challenges for new projects in France.

In this context, we have set out key highlights below.