Climate / Sustainability Governance and Reporting

The introduction of mandatory sustainability reporting in Australia has encouraged companies to apply a new level of rigour to climate and sustainability-related disclosures.

Our multidisciplinary team comprises experts on climate litigation, competition and greenwashing, and sustainable financing. Alongside our deep legal expertise, our broader offering includes non-legal expertise in climate science, risk, policy and strategy from the Senior Climate Advisers at Owl Advisory by Mallesons.

We track climate and sustainability governance and reporting trends throughout the year, and annually report on the key trends and developments over the past year, to keep clients up-to-date.

We can assist with:

• Recommendations on, and the development of, your climate and sustainability governance structure
• Amendment of Board and committee charters and other internal documents to reflect your climate and sustainability governance structure
• Advice regarding directors’ duties and the risks associated with target setting / greenwashing
• Technical interpretation advice and benchmarking against peers
• Assistance with climate and sustainability reporting, including due diligence processes, verification and legal review
• Strategic advice to manage prospective claims concerning climate and sustainability targets / representations and stakeholder activism
• Training and updates on potential liability and climate and sustainability disputes, and how best to avoid them

Should you find yourself in the firing line, we can help resolve disputes efficiently and commercially with an eye to preserving your reputation and business relationships.

Our recent work includes:

• Assisting listed and unlisted companies to implement mandatory sustainability reporting under the Corporations Act and sustainability standard AASB S2
• Assisting Commonwealth entities to implement the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure Policy
• Advising companies, funds and others on strategies to address stakeholder activism and avoid potential litigation relating to climate-related representations

Keep track of climate reporting key dates

As legislation, regulations, and guidelines continue ​to change, it is critical to keep up with key dates: whether it is a reporting ​deadline, a chance to submit views on a change, or the date an update is ​intended to come into effect - you won't miss a milestone with our Corporate Governance Regulatory Tracker.