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Company directors should consider company’s nature-related risks (including climate risks): landmark English law legal opinion

Directors should consider their company’s nature-related risks as part of their duties to promote the success of the company and act with reasonable care, skill and diligence, according to an independent legal opinion dated 11 March 2024, commissioned by the CCLI and Pollination. A team of corporate and financial law barristers (high-ranking silks Sharif Shivji…

For directors to decide? Permission initially denied in the ClientEarth v Shell case

Author: Alex Cooper Date: 15 May 2023 On Friday 12 May 2023, the High Court refused permission for the UK environmental NGO to continue its derivative action against the board of Shell plc, according to reporting by ESG Today. This is an initial order by the court, and developments in the case will not stop…

TNFD beta v0.4 in a nutshell for corporates and directors

Author: Zili Duniya Bungwon Date: 17 April 2023 On 28th March the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) released the fourth and final prototype of its framework, which will be followed by its final recommendations in September 2023. The first three beta versions of the TNFD’s framework were released in 2022, followed by market pilot…

CCLI submits response to Transition Plan Taskforce consultation

The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) recently concluded a consultation on its Disclosure Framework and Implementation Guidance, which aims to develop a 'gold standard' for the disclosure of transition plans. The Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI) responds to consultations in areas within our legal expertise on an ad hoc basis. We comment on how…

COP15 – Key Takeaways for Corporates

Authors: Zaneta Sedilekova (blog post), Jenni Ramos (Jargon Buster) Date: 23 January 2023 The 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, took place in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. It resulted in a long-anticipated Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), heralded as a Paris-style agreement for nature. The GBF is…

Can you price pollination? The emerging acknowledgement of biodiversity investment risks and opportunities

Author: Alex Cooper Date: 16 January 2023 Human-induced species extinction and the resulting decline in biodiversity threatens the economic and financial systems on which we rely. Changing investment flows to align with and drive a nature-compatible financial system is a necessity - and we are now starting to see the required tools emerge. International Biodiversity…

New legal opinion cautions Philippine company directors to take climate change seriously or risk liability for gross negligence

28 November 2022, London – Directors of Philippine for-profit corporations must take into consideration climate change-related risks in the discharge of their fiduciary duties of obedience and diligence to fulfil their companies’ long-term legal, economic, moral and social obligations towards their shareholders and other stakeholders. Directors must do so in order to abide by the…

Transition Plan Requirements- Mapping the net-zero transition

Author: Alex Cooper Date: 9 November 2022 A year on from its announcement at COP26, and with the eyes of the world on Egypt’s COP27, the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) published its Disclosure Framework and related Implementation Guidance yesterday (8 October 2022). The UK Government has stated that it intends to require listed companies,…

World Energy Outlook 2022 – three scenarios for the energy transition

Author: Alex Cooper Date: 31 October 2022 The International Energy Agency (IEA) advises fossil fuel producing nations on energy policy and produces annual analysis and predictions on energy consumption, production and policy which are regarded as influential by governments and companies. On 27 October, the IEA published its World Energy Outlook 2022 (WEO 2022), its…

Trade offs in corporate governance and balancing directors duties on the climate–biodiversity–society nexus

Jenni Ramos, Alex Cooper and Zaneta Sedilekova explore how the interconnection between climate, biodiversity and just transition impacts on the performance of director’s duties. Last month the World Biodiversity Summit (part of New York Climate Week) convened to explore joint solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises. With COP27 in November (featuring a day on…

IPBES ‘Methodological Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature’

The independent intergovernmental biodiversity advisory body called Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has published its Assessment Report on Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature. Jennifer Ramos, our corporate/finance and biodiversity lawyer, and Zaneta Sedilekova, our biodiversity consultant, summarise points from the report which are relevant for commercial and environmental lawyers in…

2nd edition of the Primer on Climate Change: Directors’ Duties and Disclosure Obligations

29 July 2022 - The Climate Governance Initiative (CGI), in collaboration with the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI), today is proud to issue the second edition to the Primer on Climate Change: Directors’ Duties and Disclosure Obligations. This edition provides the latest information for board members around the world on their legal obligations in…

Malaysian company directors warned of legal liability if they fail to consider climate issues

26 July 2022 - Directors of Malaysian companies are legally required to incorporate climate change considerations into their decision-making processes, according to a legal opinion released on 26 July 2022. A failure to do so may be a breach of a director’s legal duties and could expose them to litigation from shareholders or enforcement action from the regulatory authorities. Tan…

New legal opinion cautions Hong Kong company directors to take climate change seriously or risk personal liability

1 November 2021 – Directors of Hong Kong-incorporated companies are obliged to take climate risk into account in the discharge of their obligations to the company or face the potential for personal liability, warns a new legal opinion. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI), the legal opinion, 'Directors’ Duties and Disclosure…

New legal analysis cautions Delaware company directors to take climate change seriously or risk personal liability

20 October 2021 – Directors of Delaware companies could face civil liability for failing to consider climate change, warns a new legal analysis from the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative. The executive summary of the legal analysis can be read here, and the full paper is available here. The new legal analysis finds that,…

New legal opinion cautions Indian company directors to take climate change seriously or risk personal liability

16 September 2021 – Directors of Indian companies could face civil or penal liability for failing to consider climate change, warns a new legal opinion from Mr. Shyam Divan, a Senior Advocate who practices before the Supreme Court of India. Indian law requires directors to act in the best interests of the environment, which…

What the Shell Judgment Means for US Directors

The judgment of the Milieudefensie v Shell litigation has made headlines around the world. In this article, we analyse what it means for directors’ duties.

As climate crisis reshapes business, board directors must rethink legal duties – New Legal Primer examines 20 jurisdictions and European Union

24 June 2021 – A new legal Primer produced jointly by the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative and the Climate Governance Initiative (CGI), examines the fast-changing landscape of climate risks and opportunities for business, and the implications for board directors’ legal obligations. The Primer on Climate Change: Directors’ Duties and Disclosure Obligations, which examines 20…

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