Supporting balanced engagement on sustainability.
Regulators, investors and other stakeholders are closely focussed on the impact of business on climate and the energy transition, nature and the environment, and humans and human societies. New laws are driving greater transparency and accountability across all three domains. Our integrated and pragmatic approach to ESG law enables our clients to manage sustainability risks and opportunities in their strategy, investments, operations and stakeholder engagements, and across value chains.
We provide regulatory, transactional, governance and disclosure advice and due diligence on ESG issues and handle complex ESG disputes and enforcement proceedings.
Navigate Australia’s changing transition and reporting obligations aligned to the 2050 climate neutrality objective of the Paris Agreement, including under the NGER Act, the safeguard mechanism, mandatory climate-related financial disclosure, and enhanced regulatory and stakeholder focus on greenwashing.
New legislation requiring climate-related financial disclosure (CRFD) in annual reports commenced on 18 September 2024. A “sustainability report” will now be mandatory for very large, large and medium listed and unlisted entities that prepare and lodge annual reports, starting (for very large entities) from 2025 and phased in for other captured entities by 2028.
The climate-related financial disclosure (CRFD) legislation that was introduced into Parliament in late March 2024 has cleared the next hurdle. Last Friday (3 May), the majority of the Senate Economic Legislation Committee recommended that the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 be passed without further amendment. Our notes on the CRFD legislation are available in our previous article, ‘Mandatory climate-related financial closure bill introduced’.
In proceedings brought in the Federal Court of Australia, ASIC has successfully established that one of the world’s largest investment managers contravened the ASIC Act when it made a series of false representations about the ‘green’ credentials of one of its funds.
The NSW Government has proposed a new draft Energy Policy Framework consisting of a number of guidelines and supplementary documentation to support a more streamlined decision making process for renewable energy projects in NSW.
There is one simple yet inescapable fact that is not yet widely understood – that renewable energy alone is not going to get us to net zero.
Consider the impact of investment decisions and corporate actions on land, water and biodiversity and stay across the emerging nature-positive policy agenda and new developments in voluntary nature-related financial disclosure.
There is a significant movement towards embedding the concept of nature positive into Federal and State environmental legislation. We discuss the questions that arise from this shift: why is nature positive a focus for Government and what does it mean; what are the implications for project proponents; and are any more changes expected?
After reconfirming that greenwashing is a key enforcement priority, the ACCC has commenced its first Federal Court action against plastic wraps manufacturer, Clorox. For FMCG businesses seeking to make recyclable claims, we set out the key takeaway lessons.
Both houses of Parliament have now passed the Commonwealth Nature Repair Bill 2023 (Bill). The Bill received the Governor’s assent on 11 December 2023.
Integrate considerations of human rights, employment and labour rights, the rights of First Nations communities, and the rule of law in decision-making. Meet compliance and reporting expectations on equity and diversity, tax governance, whistleblower protections, anti-bribery and corruption measures, and global sustainable development goals.
The Federal Government has released a Voluntary AI Safety Standard and a consultation paper on 'Safe and responsible AI in Australia' for introducing mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings.
Employers and other persons conducting businesses or undertakings (PCBUs) in NSW have – since 1 October 2022 – been required to include psychosocial hazards in their assessment of workplace hazards. SafeWork NSW’s new Psychological Health and Safety Strategy for 2024 to 2026 provides insight into SafeWork NSW’s priorities in relation to psychosocial hazards over the next three years.
After reforms to Australia’s foreign bribery regime were first proposed by the Turnbull Government in 2017, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Bill 2024 (Cth) (CFB Bill) was finally passed by Federal Parliament on 29 February 2024 and received Royal Assent on 8 March 2024.
In the first case of its kind in Australia, the Federal Court of Australia held that Rio Tinto-backed Queensland Alumina Ltd was correct in interpreting and applying the sanctions imposed by the Australian Government against certain Russian oligarchs and was entitled to cease supplying goods to companies in which the designated oligarchs held indirect shareholding interests.
The High Court has delivered its decision in Harvey v Minister for Primary Industries and Resources [2024] HCA 1.