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] Massachusetts lawmakers on Monday passed sweeping climate legislation that sets a statewide net zero limit on greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, includes new renewable energy targets and efficiency standards, and codifies environmental justice provisions into state law.
[New] The Asia Society said that it will be a tightrope walk, but the Biden administration should not hesitate to voice support for human rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law as it deals with any of its partners, including India.
[New] Countries such as Chile are preparing new regulations to regulate the fintech sector and open banking, which legal sources predict could be published in one or two years.
[New] Early in 2022, regulators in the EU and the UK will start pushing listed companies to adopt the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures for talking about their emissions and climate risks.
[New] $225 million will be withheld until the secretary of state certifies and reports to Congress that the Egyptian government has taken steps to improve the rule of law, democratic institutions, and human rights.
[New] As Americans ring in 2021, an array of new laws will take effect from coast to coast.
[New] The automotive landscape faces existential disruption over the next 5-7 years as governments around the world target regulations to achieve carbon neutrality.
[New] The focus in the U.S. remains on tackling Covid-19-President Donald Trump signed the latest relief package into law - but Alphabet, Facebook, and Amazon.com better hope that China has not given U.S. regulators any ideas.
[New] One of the largest tasks Texas lawmakers will tackle during the 2021 legislative session that begins in January is writing the state budget, which outlines state spending for the next two years.
[New] The Air Resources Board is at work on the next state regulation for cars and light trucks and has stated that it will attempt to complete the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule by the end of 2021.
[New] Throughout 2021, more states will enact privacy and data protection legislation akin to the GDPR and California's CCPA legislation.
[New] The Scottish Government has committed £3 million to support five local authorities to pilot early implementation of the new deferral legislation in 2021-22.
If preemption is a point of debate now, wait until more states beyond California enact their own laws-many of which could pick up steam in 2021 as the federal government continues to stall.
Mobile operators in Australia have been accelerating 5G deployments in 2020 and are waiting for additional spectrum that local regulator ACMA plans to award in 2021 to further expand 5G networks.
Because legislators have a template to draw upon using legislation enacted in California, Nevada and other states, we will see many new data privacy laws introduced in 2021 in regions that otherwise might have taken a decade or more to enact similar protections.
If California regulators delayed enacting an all-electric requirement for new construction by three years, until 2025, it would cause three million additional metric tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030 and more than $1bn of unnecessary spending on new gas infrastructure.
The introduction of a new curriculum is expected to accelerate demand in 2022-23 as part of the enactment of a new educational law in Spain.
The ITC will fall to a 22% rate for projects that begin construction by the end of 2023, and then fall to 10% for large-scale solar projects and to zero percent for small scale solar projects in 2024.
President-elect Biden will take the US back into the Paris agreement in 2021, which will be material in terms of aligning all major economies globally towards reducing carbon emissions significantly over the next 30 years and beyond.
Ofcom, the UK's independent media regulator, will enforce penalties for tech companies of up to £18m, or 10% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to move the United States to a zero-carbon emissions scheme by 2050, and legislation supporting demand for products like renewable diesel could garner bipartisan support.
Fisheries Act 2020 is now part of UK Law and will enable UK to have more control over fisheries within British waters through a new foreign vessel licensing regime and ends the current automatic rights for EU vessels to fish in UK waters.
NASSCOM has indicated that rise in cyberattacks along with data protection and privacy laws will lead to a US$ 35 billion revenue opportunity and job opportunities for millions of Indian professionals by the year 2025.

Last updated: 12 January 2021

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