MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA    EUROPE    UNITED STATES AND CANADA  

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

South Africa passes climate change law

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 23 signed into law a bill that sets out the country’s response to climate change. The law aims to help South Africa meet its emission reduction pledges, known as nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement on climate change, the government said in a statement. The law requires the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to publish lists of activities that emit GHGs. The minister would then allocate carbon budgets to companies that conduct those activities. Companies would have to submit a GHG mitigation plan to the government. The law also requires the country to adopt a national adaptation strategy, with objectives and scenarios to help South Africa adapt to the impacts of climate change. The plan will be reviewed and revised every five years.

EUROPE

UK presents bill to create public clean energy company

The UK government introduced on July 25 a bill to create a state-backed clean energy company that would invest in renewable energy projects such as offshore wind power. The bill would create Great British Energy, a publicly owned company headquartered in Scotland and backed by £8.3 billion in government money to decarbonize the power sector by 2030. Great British Energy would partner with local authorities and community energy groups to roll out small and medium-scale renewable power projects, with the aim of unlocking private investment. Great British Energy would also partner with the Crown Estate to develop new offshore wind projects, with the potential to deliver up to 20-30 GW of extra offshore wind seabed leases to the market by 2030 and leverage between £30 billion to £60 billion in private investment, the government said.

EU markets regulator issues recommendations for EU’s sustainable finance framework

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published on July 24 recommendations that outlined potential changes to the EU’s sustainable finance regulatory framework. In the past few years, the EU has been rolling out regulations designed to drive capital toward sustainable investments, including the EU taxonomy, a classification system of sustainable activities. In its recommendations, ESMA said the taxonomy should become “the common reference point” for assessing sustainability and should be part of all sustainable finance legislation. In addition, a social taxonomy could be developed, the regulator said. The framework should also include a definition of transition investments to provide legal clarity, and all financial products should disclose a minimum of sustainability information, ESMA said. ESMA noted its recommendations form the final part of its reply to the European Commission’s request for input related to greenwashing.

UK to introduce requirements for sustainable aviation fuel from 2025

The UK government said on July 22 it would introduce requirements for the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as of Jan. 1, 2025, subject to parliamentary approval. The SAF mandate would take effect from 2025 at 2% of total UK jet fuel demand and increase on a linear basis to 10% from 2030. It would rise to 22% as of 2040 and remain at that level until SAF supplies become more certain. The UK also plans to introduce a bill to support sustainable fuel production.

UK proposes guidelines on climate-related reporting for government, public sector  

The UK Treasury launched on July 20 a consultation on guidelines for the third phase of its climate-related reporting requirements for government departments and public sector bodies. The guidelines are based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The first two phases were issued in July 2023 and on March 24, 2024, respectively, and require reporting on governance, metrics and targets and risk management. The third phase would require public-sector bodies to report their climate-related strategies, including their short, medium and long-term climate-related risks and opportunities; the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on their operations, strategy and financial planning; and to what extent they use scenario analysis in developing their climate-related strategy. Entities would be required to report for the 2025-2026 financial year or explain why they have not. The consultation runs until Sept. 19.

European Commission president proposes new clean energy investment plan

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed on July 18 a new EU Clean Industrial Deal to channel investment in infrastructure and energy-intensive industries. She said the plan would benefit sectors such as clean steel and clean tech and would speed up planning, tendering and permitting. She also said she would propose a new European Competitiveness Fund to focus on common and cross-border European projects that would support the plan. Von der Leyen, elected for a second term by the European Parliament on July 18, also announced that the EU would enshrine its 90% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target for 2040 in the European Climate Law to help companies plan their investments for the coming decade. She said she would put forward the Clean Industrial Deal within her first 100 days in office. A new Commission will take office in late 2024. Under von der Leyen’s previous presidency, the Commission introduced the European Green Deal with the aim of making the EU net-zero by 2050.

EU markets regulator publishes guidelines on implementing corporate sustainability standards

ESMA published on July 5 recommendations for companies that will start reporting under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as of 2025. Companies in the scope of CSRD are subject to a set of sustainability standards called the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). ESMA recommended companies establish governance arrangements and internal controls to ensure high-quality sustainability reporting. It also called on companies to “properly design and conduct” the CSRD’s double materiality assessment, in which firms would consider both financial materiality and also how their business affects the environment, employees and consumers. ESMA also recommended companies be transparent about the use of transitional reliefs, prepare digital sustainability statements and report on links between financial and sustainable information. It also encouraged companies “to carefully set up” data collection systems to allow them to carry out double materiality assessments and deliver “the granular sustainability information” required by the standards.

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

US issues guidance on tax credits for carbon capture projects

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance on July 24 on tax credits for companies undertaking projects that use carbon sequestration for industrial purposes or to make fuel and other products. The guidance provides instructions for taxpayers on how to write and submit a lifecycle analysis of a project's GHG emissions to the IRS and US Department of Energy. Carbon capture projects in service as of Feb. 18, 2018, are eligible for tax credits. The program awards emitters a tax credit of up to $60 per metric ton of CO 2 captured and repurposed, up from $35 before the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act came into force. Direct air capture facilities that pull CO 2 from the atmosphere are eligible for $130 per metric ton.

US announces plans to phase out single-use plastic from federal operations

The US government announced on July 22 a new goal to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035. The government also outlined in a new report existing and new federal actions to reduce the impact of plastic pollution throughout the plastic lifecycle. The report calls for sustained and coordinated work with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, local communities, the private sector and other stakeholders to address the challenges of plastic pollution. The report calls for steps to reduce pollution in the extraction of fossil fuels and production of plastics, developments of standards to promote circularity, decrease the use of virgin polymers in federal agencies and investment in waste management systems.

US proposes rule to protect workers facing extreme heat

The US Department of Labor proposed on July 2 a new rule aimed at protecting about 36 million workers from the health risks of extreme heat, amid a series of heatwaves across the US. The proposed standard would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where the Occupational Safety & Health Administration has jurisdiction. Under the proposal, employers would develop an injury and illness prevention plan for heat hazards. Additional requirements, such as rest breaks and access to drinking water, would kick in when temperatures exceed 90 degrees F.