Climate Change Regulatory Issues & Updates

UK Government Adopts Zero Emission Road Transport Strategy

On July 9, 2018, the UK Government published "The Road to Zero," a strategy to implement measures to transition the United Kingdom toward zero-emission road transport. The Secretary of State for Transport has reaffirmed the long-term ambition to put the United Kingdom at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles. The Government expects the transition to be industry and consumer led, supported by Government measures. A progress review will take place by 2025. [Details]

European Commission Consults Stakeholders on the Regulatory Fitness of the Ozone Regulation

The European Commission is currently organizing a Public Consultation on the evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer. This follows on and is part of the July 2017 launch of the Commission Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme evaluation of the Ozone Regulation. [Details]

Climate Change Litigation Issues & Updates

Industry Wins in Three Climate Change Tort Suits, but Other Governmental Entities Continue Filing Suits

Two federal courts, one in California (involving two suits) and the other in New York, recently sided with energy industry defendants by agreeing with them that the climate change suits filed against them by governmental plaintiffs lacked merit and should be dismissed. Nonetheless, the wave of climate change suits filed by governmental plaintiffs continues, with suits recently filed by King County, Washington, the State of Rhode Island, and the City of Baltimore. [Details]

First EU-Wide Climate Change Litigation

Building on a rise in climate change litigation in Europe, applicants representing 10 families from EU and non-EU States, as well as an association of young Sami people, have brought an action against the European Parliament and the Council before the EU General Court to urge EU institutions to adopt more stringent greenhouse gas reduction targets. [Details]

D.C. District Court Orders EPA to Respond to Climate Change FOIA Request

On June 1, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion ordering the United States Environmental Protection Agency to respond to a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request seeking: (i) all agency records relied upon by former Administrator Scott Pruitt in statements expressing skepticism about the impact of human activity on global warming; and (ii) any agency documents supporting the position that human activity is not the principal factor in promoting climate change. [Details]

Climate Change Transactional Issues & Updates

FERC Finds that State-Supported Generation Resources Suppress PJM Capacity Market Prices, Establishes Proceeding to Design and Implement Broad Market Reforms

In a June 29, 2018, order, Calpine Corp., et al. v. PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held that out-of-market payments provided or required by certain states for the purpose of supporting the entry or continued operation of preferred generation resources—such as those associated with renewable portfolio standard programs—depress capacity market prices in the PJM market. [Details]

All Eyes on Offshore Wind—Will It Become a Reality in the United States?

Notwithstanding a variety of challenges to development of offshore wind projects in the United States, multiple East Coast states including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Maryland have set ambitious goals for offshore wind generation capacity and are at the bidding or state approval process for a variety of offshore wind projects. [Details]

Insuring Against Climate Change Risk: Emergent Disclosure Challenges

Most global companies currently engage in sustainability reporting, an exercise that is most often mandatory and is becoming increasingly quantitative. Simultaneously, there is an emerging question about the insurability of climate change risk. The intersection of climate change reporting and insurability gaps raises the question of whether the scope and sufficiency of existing property and casualty insurance coverage adequately addresses climate change risk, and the disclosure implications if it does not. [Details]

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