Insights Search
In a potentially significant development that may impact the economics of aviation, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) is proposing a policy, as we previewed in January 2024, to update the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) program, whereby CARB would eliminate the existing exemption for intrastate fossil jet fuel from LCFS regulations beginning in 2028.
V&E ESG Update
In a landmark judgment handed down on 20 June 2024, R (Finch) v Surrey County Council and others [2024] UKSC 20, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that “Scope 3” greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from the eventual use of hydrocarbons produced from a proposed oil development should have been assessed in an environmental impact assessment (EIA) process carried out by a local authority.
V&E Energy Update
In a significant legal maneuver with potentially far-reaching implications, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amended complaint on June 10, 2024, to California’s high-profile lawsuit targeting five of the world’s largest oil companies: BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, as well as the American Petroleum Institute (“API”).
V&E ESG Update
On May 1, 2024, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published the final version of Phase 2 of its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) rulemaking (“Phase 2 Rule”).
V&E Environmental Update
Consumer packaged goods companies know that sustainability sells. And in their efforts to market their products as sustainable, they’ve long contended with allegations of greenwashing—the practice of claiming their products are friendlier to the environment than they actually are.
Published in Oilman Magazine
After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—mandating climate-related disclosures by public companies.
Following a nearly two-year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—on March 6, 2024.
V&E SEC Update | Originally Published March 7, 2024
On January 30, 2024, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and five co-plaintiffs representing a coalition of business groups filed a lawsuit against the state of California seeking to block the state’s new landmark climate disclosure laws.
V&E SEC Update
The California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) reviews the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) program every five years as part of the broader scoping plan required under the California Global Warming Solutions Act.
V&E Environmental Update
The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (“COP28”) reached a significant development in international climate policy, ending with the “first Global Stocktake” calling for a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.”
The 28th Conference of the Parties (or “COP28”) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) at Expo City in Dubai has ended with an agreement described by COP28 president Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber as “historic” and hailed by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell as “the beginning of the end” for fossil fuels.