Abstract
Private sector action to reduce carbon emissions and increase uptake of clean energy practices is critical to achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and averting dangerous climate change. An important driver is disclosure of the business risks posed by climate change (including physical risks to company assets or supply chains and financial transition risks, associated with changing law and policy, markets and technology). For companies, climate risk disclosure focuses attention internally on managing risk and harnessing associated market opportunities. Disclosure is also essential to market transparency, providing external stakeholders, such as institutional investors, with the information required to manage long-term investment risks. This article canvasses legal and policy frameworks for carbon risk disclosure in Australia, and samples the disclosure practices of a group of large Australian companies. It argues that current regulations and associated practices are not fit for purpose and proposes reforms to bring Australia into line with comparable jurisdictions internationally.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 154-183 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Company and securities law journal |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - May 2017 |
Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge funding support provided by Australian Research Council Discovery Project - DP 160100225, "Developing a Legal Blueprint for Corporate Energy Transition". We are also grateful for feedback on this paper received from participants at a workshop on "Regulating the Energy Transition: Issues at the Intersection of Energy and Environmental Law", 30 June-1 July 2016, All Souls College, University of Oxford. We would particularly like to thank Sarah Barker for her input and Lisa Benjamin for her helpful comments on disclosure requirements under UK law.
Keywords
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