Sep 13, 2024 SEC Disbands ESG Task Force By Jacob H. Hupart It has been reported that the Securities & Exchange Commission has disbanded its Climate & ESG Task Force. This same task force had been...
Aug 19, 2024 Canada Increases Enforcement Focus on Greenwashing By Jacob H. Hupart As of June 2024, Canada added certain provisions to its Competition Act that explicitly target the practice of greenwashing. In...
Aug 19, 2024 Australia Introduces Climate Disclosure Laws By Jacob H. Hupart Companies in Australia will soon have to abide by a set of significant climate disclosures aligned with the International Sustainability...
Aug 15, 2024 Federal Court Bars Missouri's Anti-ESG Investment Rules By Jacob H. Hupart Yesterday, Judge Bough (W.D. Mo.) issued a decision barring the recent anti-ESG rules Missouri had promulgated that prohibited investment...
Aug 15, 2024 It Costs to Emit Carbon: Interest Rates on European Corporate Debt Increase Based on Carbon Emissions By Jacob H. Hupart Last week, the Dutch central bank released a study that concluded that “[s]ince 2020, a clear price difference has emerged between the...
Aug 14, 2024 Congressional Democrats Press For Integration of Climate-Related Financial Risks in Insurance Regulation By Jacob H. Hupart On August 12, 2024, three Congressional Democrats (Casten (D-IL); Waters (D-CA); and Senator Whitehouse (D-RI)) sent a letter to the...
Aug 14, 2024 State of Hawaii Enters into Climate Change Settlement With Youth Plaintiffs By Jacob H. Hupart On June 24, the State of Hawaii entered into a settlement agreement with a group of thirteen plaintiffs, all minor children, concerning...
Aug 13, 2024 Connecticut Lawsuit Against Major Fossil Fuel Company Survives Motion to Dismiss By Jacob H. Hupart A couple of weeks ago, a lawsuit brought by the State of Connecticut against a major fossil fuel company, alleging various violations of...
Aug 13, 2024 SEC Argues That Climate Disclosure Regulation Survives Demise of the Chevron Doctrine By Jacob H. Hupart Earlier this year, the SEC issued its long-awaited regulation concerning mandatory climate disclosures. As expected, this climate...
Aug 07, 2024 State Court Dismisses Climate Change Tort Lawsuit By Jacob H. Hupart About a month ago, one of the myriad climate change tort lawsuits brought by state and local governments against major fossil fuel...
Jul 23, 2024 SEC Commissioner Peirce Critiques ESG Reporting Frameworks By Jacob H. Hupart SEC Commissioner Peirce recently delivered a speech where she extensively criticized the recent emphasis on ESG among businesses, in...
Jul 23, 2024 Puerto Rico Launches Climate Tort Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies By Jacob H. Hupart Puerto Rico has become the latest governmental entity to launch a lawsuit against the major fossil fuel companies concerning tort claims...
Jul 23, 2024 The Demise of the Chevron Doctrine Begins to Impact ESG Jurisprudence By Jacob H. Hupart Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the appeal from a lower court's decision upholding the Biden...
Jun 07, 2024 Congressional Democrats Urge SEC Action on Climate Disclosures By Jacob H. Hupart On June 4, 2024, a number of Congressional Democrats (10 Senators; 28 Congressmen) sent a letter to Chairman Gensler of the Securities &...
Jun 06, 2024 Legal Challenge to New York City's Local Law 97 Reinstated By Appellate Court By Jacob H. Hupart About five years ago, the New York City Council enacted Local Law 97, which imposes strict restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions for...
Jun 06, 2024 Another Major European Bank Withdraws From Fossil Fuel Financing By Jacob H. Hupart Credit Agricole SA, the second-largest bank in France, will no longer participate in fossil fuel financing. Specifically, a spokesperson...