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BLOG: The UK Formalises Pathway for AI Growth Zones Designation On 30 April 2025, the UK government launched the formal qualifying process of its Artificial Intelligence Growth Zones (AIGZ) initiative. AIGZs intend to catalyse the deployment of AI technology infrastructure—principally hyperscale data centres and high-... BLOG: Is SAF Taking Flight? An Overview of the UK’s SAF Mandate and the Next Steps Needed to Decarbonise the Aviation Sector Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has emerged as the cornerstone of aviation sector decarbonisation strategies, offering the only current scalable pathway to net zero for long-haul flight. With the UK’s SAF Mandate now in force, prescribing blending obligat... BLOG: UK Government Sets Out Plans for a New Approach to Environmental Regulation The UK Government has recently set out, in a policy paper published by HM Treasury, the actions that it plans to take to ensure regulators “support growth”. Whilst of the view that regulation can be an “essential tool to promote growth and investment”, th... BLOG: UK Government consultation on the Integrity of Voluntary Carbon and Nature Markets On 17 April 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”) launched a consultation on how to operationalise its six Principles for Voluntary Carbon and Nature Market (“VCNM”) Integrity. Introduced at COP29, the Principles aim to posi... BLOG: The European Commission seeks views on integrating sustainability considerations in merger reviews On 8 May 2025, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation to inform its review of the 2004 horizontal and 2008 non-horizontal merger guidelines (the Merger Guidelines). The EC recognises that there have been “several transformational... BLOG: PRA consults on enhancing banks and insurers’ approaches to managing climate-related risks On 30 April 2025, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) published a consultation on ‘Enhancing banks’ and insurers’ approaches to managing climate-related risks’ (“CP10/25”). The consultation includes a draft Supervisory Statement (“SS”), which... BLOG: IOSCO Releases Sustainable Bonds Report On 21 May 2025, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) published its Sustainable Bonds Report which identifies the key characteristics and trends tied to the sustainable bond market. To inform the report, IOSCO conducted resear... BLOG: The Independent Water Commission’s interim findings: Pressure builds for reform, but a sea-change looks unlikely Following a Call for Evidence that elicited over 50,000 responses, the UK’s Independent Water Commission (Commission) has published its interim findings, highlighting five areas it believes to be critical to reforming the UK water industry. The repor... BLOG: ESMA launches consultation on technical standards for ESG rating providers In May, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a consultation paper on a set of three Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS), that will provide additional detail on how the EU intends to regulate ESG ratings providers, which in turn ... BLOG: FRC publishes new Stewardship Code 2026 Following an extensive period of consultation with various stakeholders, the Financial Reporting Council has finally published its new Stewardship Code 2026. This will replace the Stewardship Code 2020 (the “2020 Code”). Draft optional guidance to assist ...