October 2025 Energy Regulation Round Up

The Global Energy Regulation Roundup is dedicated to capturing and understanding emerging climate, energy, and reporting measures. The purpose of this monthly blog is to spotlight upcoming regulations and inform key stakeholders about their impact on various industries.

European Union

European Parliament Rejects “Omnibus” Negotiating Mandate on CSRD and CSDDD Simplification

On October 22, 2025, the European Parliament voted against adopting a negotiating mandate on the European Commission’s Omnibus Directive—a proposal to “simplify” and streamline sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The vote was narrowly defeated (309 in favor, 318 against, 34 abstentions), reflecting the division among members of the European Parliament.

The drafted resolution had set out various changes to the reporting regulation, including raising the scope thresholds for CSRD to at least 1,000 employees and a minimum of EUR 450 million in net turnover.

The Omnibus package will return to the next European Parliament plenary session for a full vote and possible amendments. Only once Parliament adopts its position can it begin trilogue negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, which already agreed on its mandate earlier this year. The failure to agree on a negotiating mandate on October 22, 2025, further prolongs uncertainty for companies preparing for CSRD and CSDDD compliance.

US

The Department of Energy (DOE) canceled 321 financial awards worth up to $7.56 billion. The DOE said the decision, which affects 223 projects, followed a case-by-case review of awards issued under clean energy and manufacturing, many of which were approved in the final months of the Biden administration. The agency concluded the shuttered projects “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” according to the release.

In several projects, much of the money in question has already been spent. In some cases, the government checks have already been cashed. The DOE has not spelled out how it will proceed in those situations. Organizations with projects on the list include for-profit firms, public-private consortia, nonprofit organizations, and regional governments.

China

China’s Ministry of Finance issued the Application Guide for the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards. China’s recent application guide for ESG disclosure standards introduces a significant regulatory shift that will heavily impact the energy sector and its related value chains.

This new framework moves beyond simple reporting, requiring companies to disclose double materiality—how sustainability risks, such as climate change and energy transition, affect the business, and how the business, particularly its energy consumption and emissions, affects the environment. Crucially, the guide mandates linking quantifiable sustainability data, such as carbon costs and resource use, directly with financial statements, forcing energy-intensive enterprises to internalize and financially report on their environmental footprint across their entire supply chain—from upstream suppliers to downstream partners—thereby tightening regulatory scrutiny on energy efficiency and climate-related governance.