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Paul Mertenskötter

Paul Mertenskötter advises companies, investors, and governments on regulatory sustainability, international trade, and public policy matters.

Paul has particular experience advising multinational companies on EU sustainability laws, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Taxonomy Regulation, the Forced Labor Regulation, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). His practice also spans a wide range of climate change issues, including carbon offsets, accounting rules, and related international sustainability reporting frameworks such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Paul further advises clients on their strategic engagement with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), free trade agreements, the Paris Agreement, and general public international law.

Prior to joining the firm, Paul was a Visiting Scholar at the WTO in Geneva, clerked at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and was a Fellow at the Institute for International Law and Justice at NYU Law School.

Thank you for joining us at Covington during New York Climate Week. We were delighted to welcome more than 625 attendees to our New York office for 20 events and meetings, convening leaders from government, business, civil society, and the legal and policy communities. The breadth of the week was…

Continue Reading New York Climate Week 2026 – Closing Reflections

On July 13, 2026, the European Commission (“Commission”) adopted two new Regulations that will shape the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, “EUDR”). The EUDR will start applying to large and medium-sized operators and traders at the end of this year (i.e., December…

Continue Reading Commission Adopts Measures to Shape Implementation of EU Deforestation Regulation Ahead of December 2026 Application

On June 12, 2026, the European Commission (“Commission”) launched its public consultation on guidelines (“Guidelines”) that will significantly shape the implementation of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD;” more details about the CSDDD available here). The consultation, presented in the form of a detailed questionnaire, is open…

Continue Reading European Commission Seeks Public Input on CSDDD Guidelines: What to Watch

The European Commission (“Commission”) has launched a four-week feedback period — open until June 3, 2026 — on a draft delegated act to revise the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS 2.0”).  Ultimately, EU companies in scope of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) will have to draft their annual…

Continue Reading European Commission Publishes “ESRS 2.0” for Public Consultation: Draft Closely Follows EFRAG’s Technical Advice with Additional Simplifications for Companies

The UK is moving forward with its ambition to become a “world leader for sustainable finance” with two connected projects designed to increase the availability of “high‑quality, decision‑useful” sustainability‑related information for investors and other users of financial statements and sustainability reports.  First, the UK government has officially endorsed new voluntary…

Continue Reading Movement in the UK on Sustainability Reporting

In December 2025, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation (“Proposal”) to extend the scope of downstream goods subject to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”), and provide flexibility to the Commission to exempt specific products in order address adverse market impacts and…

Continue Reading EU CBAM – Commission Proposes Expansion to Complex Metal Products

On February 26, 2026, the European Union published Directive (EU) 2026/470 on the simplification of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD”) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) in its Official Journal, clearing the final step in the Omnibus I legislative process.

This blog post: (i) summarizes the substance…

Continue Reading EU CSDDD/CSRD Omnibus Published in Official Journal: Transposition, Delegated Acts, and Guidelines Are Next

After months of uncertainty, the outlook for key EU sustainability laws is far clearer.

On November 13, 2025, the European Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD”) Omnibus simplification. This follows the European Commission’s Omnibus proposal in…

Continue Reading The CSRD/CSDDD Omnibus Endgame: Key Points for Companies

In the lead-up to COP30 in Brazil, the newly created Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency (TCAT) launched two comprehensive greenhouse gas reporting frameworks designed to fill an important gap in how companies measure, report on, and verify their corporate climate actions.  TCAT leadership has indicated that the frameworks will…

Continue Reading Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency Launches New Frameworks for Climate Action Reporting

On October 20, 2025, a coalition of nineteen leading companies in the energy, finance, and logistics sectors, launched the Carbon Measures Coalition, proposing a significant departure from established carbon accounting frameworks. The Coalition represents a prominent industry-led effort to move away from traditional inventory-based emission calculation methods toward a…

Continue Reading Carbon Measures Coalition Signals Growing Momentum for Ledger-Based Carbon Accounting