Legal

WHAT'S NEXT?: Substantive regulatory change is likely to happen in the next decade as a result of the recent U.S. Presidential election, Brexit and efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change, increase trade and reduce bureaucracy while legislating for new forms of technological advancement such as robots, driverless cars and drones.

• [New] Last year Luxembourg launched a 10-step framework to implement the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals and drafted a climate law to cut greenhouse emissions by 55% until 2030.
• [New] The final report from Climate Assembly UK supports a ban on sales of new gas boilers and new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2030-2035 to help Britain meet its legal goal to cut emissions to net zero by mid-century.
• [New] The Welsh Government said it was a small but important step towards its legal requirement to cut the emission of greenhouse gases by at least 80% by 2050.
• [New] If no new legislation affecting spending and revenues is enacted, the US budget deficit for fiscal year 2020 will total $3.3 trillion.
• The European Union has a law banning single-use plastic set to come into force in 2021, but it does not include sachets.
• The Trump Administration continues to relax rules for reporting workplace accidents, though a new law in California is expected to preserve many Obama-era requirements.
• Large companies in the UK could soon be mandated to prove that their supply chains are free from illegal deforestation or face hefty fines, under new due diligence legislation being developed by the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).
• The German Federal Government plans to pass a supply chain act by the beginning of 2021 that will create binding regulations requiring companies to adhere to human rights and environmental protections.
• Absent new legislation, more than 20% of Black and Hispanic people in households where job loss occurred are predicted to be in poverty from August until the end of the year.
• Very recently; the UK government DEFRA; confirmed a sale ban which could raise standards (laws) further with regards fur products by the introduction of new laws; once the UK is completely free in 2021.
• Many US states are introducing their own climate change-related regulations, notably California and New York, and that a Joe Biden-led administration would likely take a very different approach to climate change from 2021, if elected.
• Policymakers are facing pressure to reverse or suspend legislation that would address plastic waste and pollution, such as Canada's proposal to ban harmful single-use plastics by 2021.
• The market for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems is experiencing high growth that we expect will accelerate with the need for safety features and new regulations targeted to come into effect in the next 3 to 4 years.
• New Zealand set the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act into law in 2019, which aims at net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases other than biogenic methane by 2050.
• The U.S. intelligence community has found that China does not want Trump to win reelection because it views him as unpredictable, pointing to Beijing's criticisms of his statements and actions toward Hong Kong, video app TikTok, 5G cellular networks and the legal battle over the South China Sea.
• Move forward with the Canada-wide strategy on zero plastic waste: Canada should proceed with implementing its existing strategy and legislation on plastic waste reduction, including a ban on harmful single-use plastic items by 2021.
• Policy-makers are facing pressure to reverse or suspend legislation that would address plastic waste and pollution, such as Canada's proposal to ban harmful single-use plastics by 2021.
• Late last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 676 into law, which calls on the California Public Utilities Commission to establish strategies and quantifiable metrics by the end of 2020 that will grow the vehicle-to-grid market over the next decade.
• The Scottish Government legislated to set a Net Zero target for 2045 and the Welsh Government intends to introduce legislation to amend its existing 2050 target for the achievement of Net Zero emissions.
• Australia will become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content provided by media companies under a royalty-style system that will become law in 2020.
• Legal & General has pledged to ensure that all the homes it builds will be operationally zero carbon by 2030, a move that will ensure both cheaper energy bills for customers and assist the UK in reaching it's 2050 net zero target.

See full forecast

Last updated: 22 September 2020