Speaking Sustainability

Key topics in Akin’s July 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include:

Key topics in Akin’s June 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include:

Key topics in Akin’s April 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include:

The Department of the Treasury published new guidance on securing bonus tax credits within the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169; IRA) for offshore wind projects. Before the Virginia legislative session expired, lawmakers passed numerous bipartisan environmental bills. Governor Glenn Younkin (R-VA) must decide on the bills’ fate by April 8, 2024. Finally, the United Nations (U.N.) announced that it plans to finalize stricter greenhouse gas emissions penalties for the international shipping sector by 2027.

We are excited to announce the launch of Akin’s Sustainability/Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy and Regulatory Update, our inaugural Speaking Sustainability newsletter. This policy and regulatory update provides a summary of key ESG topics and regulatory developments.

On February 20, 2024, European Union (EU) legislators reached a provisional political agreement on a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon dioxide removals (CDR). CDR encompasses a wide range of nature- and technology-based activities that permanently or temporarily remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. While CDR is a part of the EU’s plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, it has not yet been incorporated into many of the EU’s climate policy vehicles, such as its Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) paves the way for the EU to incorporate CDR into its climate policies in practice, and to eventually establish a registry allowing a market-based trading of CDR “units.”

On July 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Development (OCED) announced a Request for Information to inform the DOE’s efforts to design a demand-side support mechanism for its Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program (H2Hubs). Information obtained through this process will support a future Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) entitled “Implementing Entity (or Entities) for Demand-side Support Mechanism for Clean Hydrogen Hub Projects” that the DOE expects to issue later this summer/early fall. The DOE ultimately intends to commit up to $1 billion to fund entities implementing a demand-side support mechanism to “facilitate bankable clean hydrogen demand” for the H2Hubs to “enable private sector financing and expedite progress to Final Investment Decision for H2Hubs.” This follows the $6-7 billion commitment the DOE initially announced in 2022 for the H2Hubs.