Murray-Darling report shows public authorities must take climate change risk seriously

The tragic recent events on the Darling River, and the political and policy furore around them, have again highlighted the severe financial and environmental consequences of mismanaging climate risks. The Murray-Darling Royal Commission demonstrates how closely boards of public sector corporate bodies can be scrutinised for their management of these risks.

Mass fish deaths in the Darling River highlight the issue of climate risk.

Public authorities must follow private companies and factor climate risk into their board decision-making. Royal Commissioner Brett Walker has delivered a damning indictment of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s management of climate-related risks. His report argues that the authority’s senior management and board were “negligent” and fell short of acting with “reasonable care, skill and diligence”. For its part, the authority “rejects the assertion” that it “acted improperly or unlawfully in any way”.

Read the piece from The Conversation by a Graduate Fellow from the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, Arjuna Dibley - “Murray-Darling report shows public authorities must take climate change risk seriously.”