The worldwide focus on carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases (GHG) is intensifying, and changes to their regulations and policies at nearly every level of government and business have the potential to broadly impact our lives and livelihoods. Our global, cross-practice team of lawyers has decades of experience in energy transition and renewables, carbon capture, storage and transportation, carbon trading, and commodity and derivatives regulation, and regularly works with entities engaged in the carbon market.
Whether viewed through the lens of decarbonization or carbon as a commodity asset, we see increasing efforts to manage and regulate carbon. Global efforts are underway to:
Transition the energy system and amplify the use of renewable energy.
Develop and deliver alternative no- and low-carbon fuels.
Regulate the emissions of GHG from industrial activities.
Establish markets where carbon credits are sold on a voluntary or mandatory basis.
Capture, transport, and sequester carbon dioxide in nature-based systems, in geological structures, or in commercial products.
Commoditize the value of sequestered carbon in transactable credits.
Standardize and verify the sequestration of carbon dioxide.
Develop liquid derivatives markets to allow for efficient hedging and exposure to voluntary carbon markets
We address many of these leading issues in our Carbon Quarterly publication.
Unlike other commodities, the commercial, regulatory, and policy frameworks for managing, regulating, and transacting carbon are still evolving. Through our fully integrated, global platform, we work seamlessly across practices and jurisdictions to provide tailored legal solutions in insurance coverage, intellectual property, tax, policy advocacy, environmental, corporate, commercial, regulatory enforcement, and dispute matters to help our clients harness opportunities, minimize risk, and achieve their ultimate goals and objectives.
On 7 January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) aimed at limiting and preventing certain large defense contractors from conducting stock buybacks, issuing dividends, and awarding executive compensation.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes major changes to the Internal Revenue Code’s clean energy tax provisions, particularly to the provisions that were extended, expanded, and established as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
In this article, Dr. Jan Boeing and Arnaud Dobelle outline the key milestones of the new regulatory framework, its interplay with financial sector rules such as DORA and PSD2, and what the upcoming Digital Omnibus proposal means for organisations deploying AI in Europe.
While the pace of amendments and rule changes from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slowed in 2025 with the change in presidential administration and the appointment of new SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins, we have seen fundamental changes in policy and other developments that public companies will need to understand as they prepare for their 2025 Form 10-K and 2026 proxy season.
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