backAt King & Spalding, we are advising our clients on ESG issues every day. We are tackling our clients’ most pressing ESG matters and doing so while collaborating across industries and practice areas. Our attorneys in Corporate, Finance and Investments, Government Matters and Trial and Global Disputes are actively involved and ready to help our clients in this fast-moving area. Below are a few of the ESG issues, topics and developments that we have been thinking about so far in July.
- Shell announced its final investment decision to build the Holland Hydrogen I plant, which will include a 200 MW electrolyzer and be Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant once operational in 2025. Shell aims to produce renewable hydrogen using electricity generated by the offshore wind park Hollandse Kust. Additional coverage can be found here.
- Various stakeholders and interested parties continue to weigh in on the SEC’s climate proposals through comment letters and posts, including commentary on the SEC’s authority to adopt the relevant rules and how the concept of “materiality” impacts those rules (including whether materiality means financial materiality and whether materiality is the governing principle of the securities reporting regime). Some indicative examples (among many others) include Sinclair Capital, LLC in support, asserting that climate issues are material to investors and that the SEC has authority to promulgate such rules even outside the context of materiality. On the other side of the discussion, a former SEC chairman and former commissioners state that the proposed rules have “serious deficiencies” including its “disregard of financial materiality.”
- PwC discusses the push to link executive pay to ESG matters and the difficulties of selecting the right metrics and method to properly do so. The PwC article is based on a report from PwC, the Centre for Corporate Governance, and the London Business School and is focused on UK listed companies.
- Indian government initiates a “single use” plastic ban, effective immediately, and prohibits the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of the specified items.
- Nasdaq announced a new strategic technology partnership with carbon exchange and marketplace Climate Impact X (CIX) whereby Nasdaq will supply the exchange technology to CIX for its carbon credits market. CIX is a joint venture between DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange (SGX Group), Standard Chartered and Temasek.
In Case You Missed It – K&S on ESG
In case you missed them, linked below are some recent articles and analysis from King & Spalding on particular ESG-related legal developments.
- Watch The Legal Life Cycle of Fleet Electrification Webinar, now available on-demand. The webinar covers the life cycle of fleet electrification, from project inception and financing to procurement sourcing and ongoing operations; and key legal and business considerations that arise throughout the electrification process. Presented by Jamieson Greer, Adam Hankiss, Hillyer Jennings, and Angela Tarasi.
- The Norwegian Transparency Act Comes Into Force: Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence for Large Companies Doing Business in Norway (And, in Practice, Many of Their Foreign Suppliers).
- Amanda Sonneborn and Darren Gardner discuss the transforming state of diversity and disclosure at public companies and how investors can account for these changes.