The Paris climate agreement is a game-changer – and business risks being left behind

Sam Moyston writes about the climate and
sustainability-related issues facing companies. 

Two developments this week should bring climate and sustainability-related issues to the top of company board agendas.

The first was the release by the Centre for Policy Development and Future Business Council of a legal opinion by Sydney silk Noel Hutley SC that found that directors who don’t properly consider the material impacts of climate change on their business risk personal liability for breach of duty. This analysis builds on earlier work, most notably by instructing solicitor Sarah Barker at MinterEllison, highlighting that courts will take a dim view of directors who fail to perceive or respond adequately to foreseeable climate-related risks.

Read Sam Moyston’s opinion piece on The Guardian - “The Paris climate agreement is a game-changer – and business risks being left behind.”