The recent high-profile sexual harassment cases in Taiwan have raised concerns and triggered discussions about the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. In fact, among the various types of employee misconduct, sexual harassment has been mostly addressed in Taiwanese law. Taiwan’s Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Act of Gender Equality in Employment both require employers to provide a friendly and safe working environment, and provide detailed regulations for the process of investigations of sexual harassment complaints.
On 12 June 2023, the Rio de Janeiro Municipality enacted Law number 7,907/2023 (the so-called “Neutral ISS Law”) to promote the development of carbon credits market involving Rio de Janeiro taxpayers and encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
On 5 June 2023, Federal Decree Nos. 11,546, 11,547, 11,548, 11,549, and 11,550 were enacted, setting forth provisions related to climate change.
On 13-15 June 2023, the European securitization industry gathered in Barcelona for the 27th edition of the Global ABS conference. With the expansion of market products on offer and updated regulation coming into force in the near term, there is expected to be plenty of opportunities and long-term growth for securitization as a funding tool. The Baker McKenzie securitization teams across Europe have put together the following ‘key takeaways’, based on our discussions with market participants, general sentiment and some excellent panel sessions.
Hydrogen markets in Africa are expected to grow exponentially but there are still multiple barriers to the widespread development of decarbonized hydrogen. Each energy sector investment faces challenges in the form of infrastructure gaps, policy, regulatory, economic and financial barriers. A recent positive development in this regard is the announcement that a dedicated blended finance fund, SA-H2, has been launched to raise USD 1 billion for the construction of green hydrogen projects in South Africa. Once established, the SA-H2 will join the SDG Namibia One Fund to offer a blended finance solution for Southern African’s green hydrogen sector.
As part of the EU Green Deal launched in 2019, a strong mandate has been issued to ensure consumers receive reliable, comparable and verifiable information to enable them to make more sustainable decisions and to reduce the risk of greenwashing.
The proposed European Union (EU) Green Claims Directive was tabled by the European Commission in March 2023 and aims to address greenwashing and introduces stringent requirements on various aspects in tackling false environmental claims.
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Regulation entered into force on 17 May 2023 and will take effect from 1 October this year with a transitional phase that lasts until the end of 2025.
In preparation for its introduction, on 13 June 2023, the European Commission published a first call for feedback on the rules governing the implementation of the CBAM during its transitional phase.
As of the world’s top producers of many critical minerals, Africa is gearing up for its role in powering global energy transition. Its vast critical mineral store, including cobalt, copper, bauxite, chromium, high purity iron ore, platinum group metals, lithium and rare earth metals, is in high demand globally. For Africa, the focus now is on the sustainable growth of its mineral mining operations and production facilities, so that the gains from its natural resources can be of benefit to the continent and its people.
As more of Africa’s power is generated via renewable energy, the need for reliable energy storage has become increasingly important for grid resilience and flexibility. This necessitates the mass adoption of energy storage as a balancing asset. As a result, numerous battery storage projects and initiatives are underway across the continent.
In lieu of our annual conference in Bellevue, WA, we are excited to again provide a Virtual Global Trade Conference available to all our clients and friends worldwide! The conference will be comprised of 90 minutes sessions over the course of two days. Join us on July 12 and 13 for any or all of the sessions and learn from our panel of experts as they share their insights on cutting-edge trade trends, regulatory updates and challenges, and major policy developments.