This article looks at what ESG means, what we really mean when we talk about ‘ESG lending’, and the types of ESG lending available. When people talk about ‘ESG Lending’ they’re often talking about sustainable lending - encompassing social loans, green loans and sustainability linked loans. Potentially available to all businesses, now is a great time to get familiar with these types of products, as well as the corresponding jargon ...
The Regulation’s overall goal is to encourage Member States to carry out Strategic Mineral Projects involving minerals such as e.g. Copper, Titanium, Nickel – battery grade, Lithium – battery grade, and Rare Earth Elements for magnets. The aim for the EU’s extraction capacity is set to be at least 10 % of the Union’s consumption of strategic raw materials ...
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) are increasing their scrutiny and enforcement of ‘green claims’ to protect consumers from 'greenwashing'. What are green claims? Green claims (also known as ‘environmental claims’ or ‘eco-friendly claims’) are claims that a product, service, or business provides a benefit or is less harmful to the environment ...
In 2018, second-term Governor Roy Cooper issued climate-related Executive Orders, which was followed in 2019 by the state’s clean energy plan ...
Hydrogen's potential to support the UK’s journey to net-zero depends in large part on how carbon-intensive the hydrogen we produce is. One of the challenges this presents is transparency. Much like electrons in a wire look the same (whether generated from coal or from wind), a hydrogen molecule looks the same whether produced by electrolysis powered by renewables or from carbon-intensive steam methane reforming ...
It's the final countdown to the new Consumer Duty. After what feels like a lifetime of consultations, responses and commentary on the FCAs new Consumer Duty, the final countdown is upon us. With just over 5 months to go before the Consumer Duty comes into force, the big question is.. ...
Hydrogen is often touted as the future of green industry, heating and fuels. It certainly has the capability to be just that, but there are many hurdles along the way to be overcome. In truth, while there are many methods to produce hydrogen, only four could potentially reach carbon zero ...
In some ways, the 2023 proxy season might be met with a sigh of relief as some extraneous factors impacting United States capital markets—such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict—have stabilized in terms of their increased effect. In that same vein, some changes that may have once been viewed as “trends” in disclosure are very much here to stay ...
Our support of the UK’s first official Hydrogen Week continues this week, bringing together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero (NZ). Michael Bennett, construction legal director at Shoosmiths, explores the topic of hydrogen and its current journey to achieving net zero. The number that has been front and centre of every environmental conference is 1.5C ...
The planning system has a key role to play in both facilitating and legislating for environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. In the final instalment of Shoosmiths’ planning video series, legal director Sam Grange and associate Eram Watson examine how the real estate industry and planning system is incorporating ESG ...
The recently published project of the National Development Plan (“PND”) 2022-2026 “Colombia World Power of Life” embodies the objectives, goals and priorities of the National Government for the next four years. In the PND, the National Government introduces rules or regulations that would make it easier to achieve the objectives pursued ...
The exponentially rising hydrogen trend attracted not only hydrogen veterans to the World Hydrogen Congress in Rotterdam, but also the fossil fuel industry. Big oil giants, such as Shell and Total Energies, were major sponsors of the event and eagerly presented their new green ambitions on the showroom and the stage ...
Is Tesco exploiting Lidl’s reputation as a discount or ‘value’ supermarket? This is what Lidl are alleging in the most recent supermarket trademark dispute. The question being put before the Court is essentially whether Tesco’s ‘Clubcard Prices’ logo infringes on Lidl’s brand logo, as both appear as text in a yellow circle on a blue background ...
An analyst estimates that the market value in 2023 for digital advertising will be US$701 billion. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a legislative competition law 'key' to 'unlocking' the big-data relating to digital advertising held in the ‘safe’ owned by BigTech. Advertising agencies are potentially one class of beneficiary (see link for article - The Digital Markets Act - Strategy reboot for online advertising) ...
Why is green hydrogen important and what is its role in energy transition? The UK’s first official Hydrogen Week takes centre stage this week, bringing together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero (NZ) ...
On Tuesday 7 February 2023, the Transport Secretary, Rt Hon Mark Harper, laid out his commitment to the rail industry for the first time during the George Bradshaw address. As it stands it was a huge night for rail, with the sector desperate for some clarity over what the next steps are in relation to a number of things ranging from the establishment of Great British Railways (GBR) through to where it will be based and visibility of work pipelines ...
On 23 December 2022, the Brussels Court of Appeal (“Market Court”) rejected Carrefour Belgium’s application for the suspension of the Belgian Competition Authority’s (“BCA”) decision of 9 November 2022 authorising the concentration between Intermarché AB (“ITM”) and Mestdagh ...
With the impact of climate change increasingly evident, it is no wonder that many consumers are endeavouring to make more environmentally conscious decisions in their day-to-day lives. Consumers’ focus to become more environmentally friendly often centralises around changes to their purchases of small, everyday goods such as food, toiletries and other household essentials ...
Fleur Turrington, Jennifer Clarke & Aimee Cook work through the pros & cons of the Procurement Bill ...
In the decision Beijing Judian Restaurant Co. Ltd. v. Wei Meng, 2022 FC 743, rendered by the Honourable Angela Furlanetto on May 18, 2022, the Federal Court clarified what constitutes bad faith in trademark law. Prior to the decision, the concept of bad faith in relation to trademarks was interpreted rather cautiously in Canadian jurisprudence. Background Beijing Judian Restaurant Co. Ltd ...
There are less than 12 months until new mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements are enforced as part of the Environment Act 2021. The legislation will require all new developments in England (bar a few exceptions) to deliver at least 10 per cent BNG – impacting both commercial and residential developers. Although the Environment Act received Royal Assent in November 2021, secondary legislation is set to be introduced to enable the relevant provisions to take effect ...
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a final rule (2023 Rule) revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as used in the Clean Water Act (CWA). This 2023 Rule follows years of uncertainty as to the scope of CWA jurisdiction that has included nationwide litigation and multiple Supreme Court decisions ...
Overview If you are thinking about outsourcing manufacturing but have no idea where to start, or if you are already sourcing your product overseas but running into complications, this book, So You Need To OutSource A Product?, will provide some helpful guidelines on navigating the process. You probably already know this, but it bears repeating: Manufacturing outsourcing raises profit margins, improves inventory management, and gets new products to market faster ...
