As the Ontario Court of Appeal today begins hearing a constitutional challenge by the Ontario government to the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, the CCLI’s Dr Janis Sarra published an op-ed in The Globe and Mail outlining why businesses want certainty on carbon pricing – not constitutional challenges. Dr Sarra writes: “Valuable tax dollars…

Australia has followed the lead of Europe, the UK and Canada with the establishment of a new high-level collaboration of industry experts tasked with developing a sustainable finance roadmap for Australia’s economy. Launched today as the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative, the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative’s Australian Convenor and Head of Climate Risk Governance at…

The World Economic Forum, in partnership with PwC, has released a white paper, How to Set Up Effective Climate Governance on Corporate Boards: Guiding principles and questions, highlighting that company directors have a crucial role to play in addressing the disruptive effects of climate change on business. The white paper will help drive the conversation…

The New York Attorney General yesterday announced a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for allegedly misleading investors of the risks that climate change regulations posed to its business. Responding to the claim, the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI) Australian Convenor Sarah Barker said: “The lawsuit by the New York Attorney-General is a turning point – climate…

CCLI Canadian Convenor Professor Cynthia Williams has given evidence at the New York hearing of the world’s first national inquiry into the human rights impacts of climate change. The fact-finding inquiry by the Philippines Commission on Human Rights is investigating the potential human rights impacts on Filipino citizens of the carbon-intensive businesses of 47 multinational…

To avoid the risk of inadequate disclosures which capture the attention of regulators and potential litigants, companies should be disclosing in accordance with the recommendations of the G20 Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, argue CCLI Canada convenor Professor Cynthia Williams and Director Ellie Mulholland in a post on the Harvard Law…

CCLI South Africa convenor Christine Reddell recently featured on a panel on directors’ duties and climate change hosted by the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa. Reddell explained that the far-reaching provisions of the South African Companies Act and King IV Report “clearly suggest that directors’ fiduciary duties will be interpreted to encompass the risks…

CCLI Australian convenor Sarah Barker and advisory board member Dr John Purcell featured in an INTHEBLACK article on the increasingly tough scrutiny company directors face over how they recognise and account for climate change risk. Legal expert Barker explains that it’s a matter of directors’ duties: “The point is that politics is becoming less and less…