COP 27: Top News for the Fourth Day of Events

Nov 10, 2022

Reading Time : 2 min

By: Kenneth J. Markowitz, Christopher A. Treanor, Kerry Mackenzie (Public Policy Specialist)

  • Climate Action Tracker, a collaborative research project tracking emissions reduction progress, released a new edition of its report. The group predicts that fossil fuel projects initiated by countries this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could emit 10 percent of the world’s remaining carbon budget.
    • Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, one of the key partners in the Climate Action Tracker project said: “We’re witnessing a major push for expanded fossil gas LNG production and import capacity across the …which could cause global emissions to breach dangerous levels.”
  • Emmanuel Faber, Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), said that he was hopeful regarding aligning the European Union’s (EU) environmental, social and governance (ESG) corporate disclosure standards with his board’s regulations. Faber emphasized that the EU needs to mandate Scope 3 emissions disclosures.
    • The ISSB announced earlier that it is partnering with 20 organizations on a framework to support investors and other stakeholders as they prepare to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
  • The World Bank called for fresh funds from wealthy developed countries. Bank leader Axel van Trotsenburg emphasized that the organization is hoping to make a “decisive contribution” to climate finance for developing countries, especially Africa, but need support from countries like the United States, England and Germany to do so.
  • The United Nations (UN) food agency announced that it will launch a plan within the year to make the global food system more sustainable. Officials hope that the plan will spur investment into sustainable companies, projects and technologies committed to meeting the plan’s goal.
    • Food and Agriculture Organization Deputy Director Zitouni Ould-Dada reflected: “There has never been this much attention to food and agriculture anytime before. This COP [27] is definitely the one.”
  • Youth protestors and other civil society groups held rallies around the COP 27 venue demanding climate justice, with a focus on calling for funding for loss and damage projects in developing countries.
    • This comes as watchdog group Global Witness reported that over 600 fossil fuel lobbyists are set to attend COP 27 climate talks, a number which is up 25 percent from COP 7.

Share This Insight

Previous Entries

Speaking Sustainability

June 30, 2025

The European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement (i.e., a post-consultation, non-binding political deal in relation to the final text of a legislative proposal) to streamline the European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on June 18, 2025. This is a key instrument to prevent carbon leakage and align trade policy with the EU’s climate goals. The changes are part of the EU’s broader sustainability legislative simplification package announced earlier this year. This proposal is intended to ease compliance burdens while maintaining the environmental integrity of the CBAM framework.

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

June 27, 2025

Key Topics in Akin’s June 2025 Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Update

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

February 19, 2025

Wind energy projects along the coasts are facing uncertainty due to President Trump’s Presidential Memorandum1 issued on January 20, “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects.” This Memorandum introduces substantial policy changes that impact both onshore and offshore wind development.

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

February 14, 2025

Key topics in Akin’s February 2025 Speaking Sustainability - Legal & Regulatory Update include:

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

January 24, 2025

Beginning on Monday, there have been a flurry of executive orders from the Trump administration reversing Biden-era energy policies, emphasizing oil and gas production, lifting the liquified natural gas (LNG) export permitting pause and withdrawing from all accords and commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) including the Paris climate agreement. The orders also target electric vehicles (EVs), wind energy, international climate aid and the use of the social cost of carbon in agency decision making. For close tracking of these orders and more to come, visit the Akin Trump Executive Order tracker. Concurrently, President Trump’s nominees for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have each passed their initial rounds of committee confirmation votes, and now await votes before the Senate floor.

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

January 10, 2025

In the final days of his term, President Joe Biden has taken significant steps to solidify his administration’s climate legacy. The administration finalized rules for various clean energy tax credits established under the Inflation Reduction Act. However, these rules, intended to stimulate clean energy advancements through 2032, face opposition from Congressional Republicans, who are considering scaling back or repealing the credits through budget reconciliation.

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

December 19, 2024

The twilight hours of the Biden administration and the 118th Congress have been marked by intense legislative and regulatory activity, underscored by President-elect Trump’s derailment of last-minute congressional budget talks, and stalled progress on energy permitting reforms.

...

Read More

Speaking Sustainability

December 11, 2024

The Biden administration’s environmental policies and the future of infrastructure projects are facing pivotal legal challenges and political shifts. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit questioned the viability of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2024 power plant emissions rule, particularly its reliance on carbon capture technology, while the 6th Circuit overturned the EPA’s rejection of Kentucky’s smog plan, which comes only three days after the EPA issued its defense of its “good neighbor” smog control plan responding to the Supreme Court’s decision to halt its implementation in June. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s handling of the first National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) case in some time, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, could substantially alter the scope of environmental reviews, with potential immediate implications for the oil & gas industry. These judicial reviews may be influenced by a potential change in administration and Congress, as Trump-era officials, including Vivek Ramaswamy, advocate for scaling back NEPA regulations to expedite infrastructure projects. Additionally, the Department of Energy’s recent clarity on liquified natural gas (LNG) export authorizations underscores the broader tension between expanding fossil fuel infrastructure and adhering to environmental regulations amidst a polarized political and legal landscape.

...

Read More

© 2025 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising. This document is distributed for informational use only; it does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Akin is the practicing name of Akin Gump LLP, a New York limited liability partnership authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 267321. A list of the partners is available for inspection at Eighth Floor, Ten Bishops Square, London E1 6EG. For more information about Akin Gump LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and other associated entities under which the Akin Gump network operates worldwide, please see our Legal Notices page.