Uncharted Waters

The EU’s new corporate sustainability laws have great potential to hold multinational corporations accountable for harm to the environment. The EU adopted the CSRD in 2022 and the CSDDD in 2024. The Green Deal encourages compliance with the Paris Agreement’s climate mandate. Some European companies fulfill their sustainable investment obligations by investing in United States offshore wind. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, protecting endangered marine mammals under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act, issues offshore wind companies with “incidental take authorizations” that limit legal liability under U.S. federal law if endangered marine mammals are harmed during turbine surveying or construction. Compliance under U.S. environmental law may differ from accountability under EU Member State law. This paper uses a comparative approach to analyze TotalEnergies’ offshore wind contract with New Jersey’s BPU and its potential legal accountability under EU law

Accountability · Endangered species · Environmental law · Harm · International law · Liability · National Environmental Policy Act · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Corporate Law and Human Rights · Environmental law and policy · Marine and Offshore Engineering Studies