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Having previously been expected earlier this year, the FCA has now published its consultation paper on the proposed new sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) regime and a set of consumer-friendly sustainability labels. This is, in effect, the UK's answer to the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU SFDR), although the proposed UK regime goes further in terms of having formal product labels and is bolstered by rules already in force that require many firms to report climate-related risks and opportunities in accordance with the TCFD guidelines (covered in our 2022 New Year Briefing).

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Partners Andy Lewis and Jonathan Gilmour, Senior Counsel Harriet Sayer and Senior Consultant Simon Witney have contributed to the latest paper from Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI): A legal framework for impact (UK): integrating sustainability investment goals across the investment industry.

The EU recently revealed its proposal for a new Regulation to combat the use of forced labour in the production of goods. A key aim of this new Regulation is that it will be used alongside other initiatives within both the EU and externally, in order to further eliminate modern day slavery from supply chains.

Surging commodity prices are creating headaches in the tech and automotive sectors, with the cost of key materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel (key components in electric car batteries) rising following supply chain disruptions associated with Covid and the war in Ukraine. 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority ("SRA") is the latest organisation to indicate that it is looking to curb the use of so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation ("SLAPPs") in England & Wales. This proposed intervention follows the recently proposed interventions by both the Ministry of Justice and, from a European perspective, the European Commission. 

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

In this video series, our cross-disciplinary team of market-leading experts unpack some of the key ESG issues that corporates and counsel alike will need to be aware of when developing their own sustainability strategies. 

Welcome to the fourth episode in our Spotlight on ESG video series. 

On 8 July 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down its long-awaited judgment in the Municipio De Mariana group litigation claim, granting permission for some 200,000 Brazilian claimants to pursue in the UK their group action for damages caused by the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Brazil in 2015.

In July 2022, the FCA published its review of the climate-related disclosures of premium listed commercial companies, for the first time since the rule mandating such disclosures was introduced for a wider range of listed issuers on 1 January 2022.

Our ESG timeline archive sets out past UK and EU legal and regulatory developments relating to ESG and wider sustainable business topics from January 2021 onwards. As with the main timeline, the timeline archive can be filtered according to your business type or the relevant ESG theme.

There is a growing trend amongst activists and claimant law firms to pursue novel causes of action against companies for acts or omissions that, while not directly attributable to them, are said to result in alleged human rights breaches in their value chains. 

On 20 July 2022 the Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, announced a package of measures designed to tackle the increased use of SLAPPs in the courts of England and Wales.

Since the Supreme Court's rulings in Vedanta Resources Plc v Lungowe [2019] UKSC 20 ("Vedanta") and HRH Emere Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell [2021] UKSC 3 ("Okpabi"), much has been written about the potential impact these decisions may have on UK-domiciled businesses with foreign operations and, in particular, how they will assist claimants who wish to initiate large-scale group litigation. 

Welcome to the third episode in our Spotlight on ESG video series. 

The EU's Platform on Sustainable Finance ("PSF") – an expert group established to advise the European Commission – recently published a helpful draft report on so-called "minimum safeguards" ("MS") under sustainable finance legislation.  

On 25 July 2022, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288, consisting of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), was published in the Official Journal.

The High Court has ruled that the UK Government's Net Zero Strategy breaches its obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008. The ruling took place on 18 July 2022, following a case brought by Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth (inter alia), who alleged that the Government failed to produce detailed climate policies to show how the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets will be met, in line with its obligations under the Climate Change Act.