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On January 13, 2022, the NGO Milieudefensie (the Dutch chapter of Friends of the Earth) announced that it had senta letter to 29 Dutch companies and financial institutions considered by Milieudefensie to be "Netherlands' large polluters." Not only has this letter been sent to energy majors, but also to entities from a variety of sectors, including pension funds, banks, consumer groups, and chemical groups. In this letter, the NGO called on the chiefexecutivesof these companies to draft a "climate plan" before April 15, 2022, detailing and explaining the actions that will be taken to reduce the companies' CO2 emissions by 45% in 2030 relative to 2019 levels, in line with the UN Climate Convention and the Paris Climate Agreement.

According to Milieudefensie,the ruling issued by Hague District Court on May 26, 2021,in the case against Royal Dutch Shell implies that every large CO2 emitter in the Netherlands has, at a minimum, an obligation to reduce its emissions in line with the global imperative that has been confirmed most recently by the Glasgow Climate Pact. Milieudefensie has indicated it is collaborating with the New Climate Institute to assess the plans of all companies and publish the results and a ranking in June 2022.

With this new initiative, Milieudefensie expects that, by implementing their "climate plan," the 29 companies targeted will individually reduce their CO2 emissions (scope 1, 2, and 3) by at least 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. AlthoughMilieudefensieannounced that it was not intending to start litigation against each and every company, it did not exclude taking "follow-up steps" against the addressees that do not comply with this demand.

Some of the targeted companies have already provided a response to Milieudefensie by pointing to their climate efforts, but none has providedfurtherinformation on whether they are planning to comply with the demand and provide the said "climate plan."

This action confirms the new face of NGO climate change activism, which is taking the form of increasingly concrete actions against companies. Rather than the traditional "name and shame," it is now transforming into a "name and change" initiative, under which NGOs seem to position themselves as "regulators" by imposing on companies the implementation of measures to mitigate climate change under the threat of litigation.

This kind of action is likely to be extended outside of the Netherlands and may create a risk of businesses receiving similar requests making climatechange-related voluntary commitments that they cannot keep. In light of such voluntary commitments, the risk of businesses being held to a standard later that is not contemplated now is significant and should be carefully considered before providing any response to such requests.

Caution is therefore advised when establishing a response to this new kind of action, and absolute statements or commitments on climate change mitigation measures should be avoided or drafted carefully unless there is certainty that they can be fulfilled.

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Climate Change Litigation in the European Union: The Netherlands - JD Supra

As of January 1, 2022, the first delegated acts adopted to supplement European Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of June 18, 2020 (the "Taxonomy Regulation") became applicable. The Taxonomy Regulation sets out a classification system establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities in order to direct investments toward activities identified as environmentally sustainable.

Commission Delegated Regulation 2021/2139 of June 4, 2021 (the "Climate Delegated Act") supplements the Taxonomy Regulation with a list of activities and applicable technical screening criteria. This delegated regulation was published on December 9, 2021. It includes two annexes listing a total of 95 activities for which technical criteria are set out to determine whether the relevant activity either "contributes substantially to climate change mitigation" (Annex I) or "contributes substantially to climate change adaptation" (Annex II). The activities currently targeted by the Climate Delegated Act include a broad variety of industries, including manufacturing activities of various products (e.g., aluminum, iron, chlorine), certain types of energy generation, as well as certain transportation modes and financial and insurance activities.

Additional activities will be added in the future by additional climate delegated acts, together with the relevant technical criteria. In particular, on February 2, 2022, the European Commission announced it had approved a new delegated act which will cover nuclear energy and natural gas. The publication of these supplementary regulations are expected in a few months after a validation period by the European Parliament and Council.

Commission Delegated Regulation 2021/2178 of July 6, 2021 (the "Disclosures Delegated Act") was published on December 10, 2021, and specifies the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by certain undertakings subject to the taxonomy. It applies as of January 1, 2022, with transitional provisions for the first year with respect to reporting on activities undertaken in 2021. The scope of entities subject to such disclosure obligations includes financial as well as large non-financial companies, with a reference to Directive EU 2014/95 (the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, or NFRD).

The preparation of taxonomy reports includes two main steps. First the reporting company must identify whether it has undertaken activities "eligible" under the taxonomy (i.e., activities listed in Annex I and/or Annex II of the Climate Delegated Act). Then it must establish whether such eligible activities are "aligned" (i.e., compliant) with the criteria set out by the Climate Delegated Act's annexes for such activity.

Such reporting obligations create additional constraints on financial and non-financial entities, already subject to a number of non-financial reporting obligations, and should be carefully reviewed considering the complex and technical nature of the Taxonomy Regulation. They will also create opportunities for non-financial entities with "taxonomy aligned" sustainable activities which may benefit from favorable financing conditions. They may also reduce the risks for misleading and greenwashing claims thanks to this new comprehensive and unified reporting methodology.

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First Year of Implementation for the Taxonomy Regulation in the European Union - JD Supra

The collective might of the United States of America and the European Union, including so-called neutral Switzerland, was visible when they slapped a series ofsanctions on Russia. However, these sanctions need to be looked at a little more closely asthere is a lot to themthan what meets the eye.

Switzerland has slapped sanctions on certainRussian oligarchs. Who are these certain oligarchs? No one knows. Is it possible that Switzerland is using this Ukraine-Russia war as an opportunity to settle scores with these oligarchs?

Japan said it would limit its transaction with the Russian central bank and sanction certain banks in Belarus, which did noteven go to war with Ukraine directly. So why authorise sanctions on Belarus? What kind of scores is Japan looking to settle?

New Zealand says it will prohibit the export of specific hardware to Russian security forces and the Russian military. However, what is funny is that the total exports of New Zealand to Russia aremerely$250 million-$280 million. Of this, military hardware must be contributing merely $50 million-$100 million.

France applied sanctions on the import-export of luxury goods from Russia. Luxury goods? What haveluxury goods got to do with the ongoing war? Prevent Russians from getting ready for the battle by dressing well and applying mascara? Can it get more ridiculous than this?

Smaller nations like Taiwan have joined the fray without specifying what sanctions they are slapping on Russia. These sanctions arenothing but tokenism and a way to settlescores withcertain oligarchs.

The sanctions included sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putins holdings abroad. Conspiracy theorists have been speculating that Putin has much treasurehidden somewhere; no one knows where. His official holdings are minuscule, and none of it is abroad. Sanctioning Putins wealth abroad has become a butt of jokes in the international community.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada banned certain Russian banks from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). Which are these certain banks? No clarity has been offered on that. These couldbe non-performing banks and not those that bring money into the coffers of the Western banking system. Specific restrictive measures were also imposed to prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves. The EU hopes that these measures would paralyse Russias central banks assets and freeze its transactions, making it impossible to liquidate its assets. The Golden Passport system was also put on hold for a while. It means that people with money cannotenter my country. It is not easyto believe that the United States and the European Union do not love money anymore.

The United States froze accounts of specific individuals whom it believed had saved up slush money or rainy-day cash in US banks. They did this by freezing transactions by the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund. This Russian direct investment fund was receiving payments from wealthy Russian individuals who were earning in Russia and saving it in the United States. Withone stroke of the presidential decree, the money was gone. Poof. Thirteen state-owned banks of Russian origin in the United States have been affected as well. Specific individuals in America think these banks are close to the Kremlin.

No High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) put all their money in one basket. If any financial institution thought these oligarchs would invest only in the United Statesand the European Union, they are mistaken. What these sanctions, however, showed to these HNIs and other potential investors who would be looking to invest in the United States and European Union is that the banking system is fickle, state-owned and therefore, could be controlled by a stroke of a pen. The banking system of Switzerland too isnt reliable anymore.

The Swiss banking system, which remained a neutral banking system and benefitted a lot, especially after theSecond World War when people with war booty came to Switzerland and made it what it is today, has been exposed. Putting your money in a Swiss bank isnt safe anymore is the message it sends out to the world. Anything that happens in your country and that does not go well with either the United States or the European Union or any other catastrophe that could affect Switzerlands thought process would leadto you losing your money. The Swiss banking system has sent this message loud and clear to the world.

The uncertainty of the Western banking system has been exposed in these sanctions. The message it has sent out loud and clear is that sanctions could be selective, conditional and at the whims and fancies of the state. The message is that states, to further theirnarrative, will play with your money. Banks traditionally enjoyed their wealth by holding onto peoples wealth and making money out of it. A banks contribution, directly in value addition in terms of goods or services, is nothing. But, the fact that it could selectively get after their customers may not go well with other customers who have not been sanctioned as yet.

Short term effect on the Russian economy as a result of these sanctions is enormous. The Rouble is already down to 50 per cent of its value against the dollar. People who held the Rouble outside of Russia have lost their money, no doubt. And as expected, when any country goes to war, its economy tanks, and inflation rises. Its true in all cases of conflict. The Russia-Ukraine crisis is no different. The Russian economy has tanked, Ukraines economy is next to nothing, and the European economy has taken a beating.

How to mitigate theeffects of the uncertainty of the Western,including theSwiss, banking system? The burning question that every investor or a potential investor must be asking themselves is: if I store my money in the Western banking system, including the Swiss banking system, will it be safe? How do I transact without being controlled by state policies and states whims and fancies? That is the fundamental question that needs to be answered, and there appears to be an answer in the form of cryptocurrency.

What if I tell you, one in every four US dollars in existence came in into being in 2020 after COVID hit Wall Street? It went from having its worst weeks to its best weeks in no time. The practice is known as quantitative easing by which during an economic crisis, the central bank puts more money into the system to keep it running. History has taught the world that printing money to solve monetary problems doesnt end well as we have seen in Zimbabwe recently. Simple economics suggests more money into the system is a recipe for inflation and rendering the currency worthless. Zimbabwe had to print a billion Zimbabwean Dollar notes for itscitizens to buy bread. The point here is simple in the connected digital world which has rendered the world a village, we might have a chance of having blockchain technology with a set of rules that cant be changed according to geopolitics or economics being used as a medium of exchange, which, in essence, is decentralisation.

Cryptocurrency has boomed since the pandemic came into being, investors have looked for safe havens for their money and the direct result of the printing of US dollars in 2020 was this boom. In the current scenario of war, sanctions and especially Russias exclusion from SWIFT, cryptocurrency will be an alternative that will be used by Russia to transfer funds, reducing the agitation caused by the West. Crypto has been the medium of exchange for organisations/countries to launder money in times where regulated, centralised options are not an option.

The mere fact that a decentralised option exists for the Russians is a prime example of the liberation cryptocurrency presents to the modern world.

The long-term effect of these sanctions on Dollar and Euro is likely to be two-fold: First,theirprominence as currencies of transaction in the world would decline. Second, transactions using cryptocurrency will show a sharp increase. The writing is already on the wall as most cryptocurrency stocks have shown a sharp rise after the announcement of these sanctions. Nothing stops Putin from trading in this currency during the hot war conditions. Russia is close to China, and neither Europenor the United States have managed to create any dent in the Chinese gross national power or its currency. They have also failed to deterChina from interfering in Taiwanese affairs. A Chinese air intrusionin Taiwan was conveniently ignored by the Western media and the Western polity alike.

These geopolitical moves and meddling with the banking system, which supported the world economy post the Second World War, seem to be part of the self-destruction. Cryptocurrency or another form of transaction will find prominence and may become the preferred mode of wealth exchanging hands in the time to come.

The author is Group Captain (retd), Fighter Pilot, MiG-21, Mirage-2000. He is DGCA-nominated Qualified Flying Instructor and Aircraft Accident Investigator. Vineet Maliakal is COO, AutoMicroUAS. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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For US and European Union, the Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs May Backfire - News18

Alisher Usmanov, the man behind several of Everton's sponsors, has been named on a list of oligarchs to be sanctioned by the EU for alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Usmanov, a billionaire whose company USM Holdings sponsors Evertons Finch Farm training ground as well as other deals including the option for a 30 million naming rights of their new stadium is one of several individuals to be targeted by measures designed to hit back at the Kremlin for invading Ukraine.

The 68-year-old Uzbek, who is a friend and business associate of Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, will have his assets in the EU frozen and others will be prohibited from making funds available to him. He will also be banned from entering or transiting through EU territory.

On Tuesday Usmanov stepped down from his role as president of the International Fencing Federation and vowed to challenge the measures imposed.

On 28 February 2022 I became the target of restrictive measures imposed by the European Union, a statement from Usmanov read.

I believe that such a decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation.

I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation.

In a statement on Monday evening, the European Council confirmed 26 persons had been added to a list of those subject to sanctions.

It added that measures had been taken against those individuals in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

In an updated regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union, Usmanov was named as a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The document added: (Usmanov) has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putins favourite oligarchs. He is considered to be one of Russias businessmen-officials, who were entrusted with servicing financial flows, but their positions depend on the will of the President.

The report also said that Usmanov actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine and actively supported the Russian governments policies of destabilisation of Ukraine.

Moshiri acts as chairman for USM while the Everton owner has a stake in MegaFon, a company of which Usmanov is the majority shareholder. MegaFon and Russian smartphone company Yota, which is part of the MegaFon group, sponsor Everton women.

USMs naming rights agreement with Everton began in 2017 on a five-year deal, with the clubs Halewood training ground renamed USM Finch Farm. In January 2020, Everton announced that Usmanovs USM had agreed to pay 30 million in order to have the first right of refusal for naming rights of Evertons new stadium. This was not for the actual rights, but merely the right to buy them.

Everton and Moshiri were approached for comment. Moshiri declined to comment, and Everton had not replied by the time of publication.

(Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

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Everton sponsor Alisher Usmanov sanctioned by European Union over Vladimir Putin ties - The Athletic

Ukraine War: Borrell warned EU citizens that punishing Russia was "going to have a price".

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is becoming increasingly merciless, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, as strikes were reported on residential areas.

"The Russian military campaign is becoming more and more ruthless and Ukrainian armed forces are fighting back with courage," Borrell told journalists.

"There are a lot of civilian casualties... and the flow of people looking for shelter, escaping the war is increasing."

The EU on Sunday unveiled a 450-million-euro ($500-million) package to fund the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the first time the bloc has agreed to send arms to a third country.

Borrell said the EU had in addition "mobilised" its satellite centre in Madrid to provide Ukraine with geospatial intelligence following a request from Kyiv.

Borrell sought to clarify a statement he made Sunday that the 27-nation bloc would supply fighter jets to Ukraine.

"Some European countries, if they want to, bilaterally can mobilise any kind of aid to help Ukraine to defend itself, and they also need aircraft," Borrell said.

"But they would have to be those European countries, if they have them, that have fighter jets which could be piloted by the Ukrainian air force pilots."

In addition to military support, the EU has also unleashed its strongest-ever barrage of sanctions against Moscow, including blocking transactions with Russia's central bank.

Major energy exporter Russia has threatened to hit back over the measures, and Borrell warned EU citizens that punishing Moscow was "going to have a price".

"Sanctions will backlash. Sanctions have a cost," Borrell said.

"But we have to be ready to pay this price now because, if not, we will have to pay a much bigger price in the future."

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Ukraine Invasion Getting "More And More Ruthless": European Union - NDTV