International Law, Directors Duties, and Corporate Climate Accountability
Engaging expert panel discussion on a landmark international decision
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, delivered last year, ruled that nations must act to combat climate change, including by regulating fossil-fuel emitting activities in their jurisdictions whether conducted by public actors or private entities like corporations. This landmark international decision has wide-ranging implications for the corporate sector in Australia and globally.
This panel session, jointly convened by the Laureate Program on Global Corporate Climate Accountability and Climate Integrity, will discuss some of the potential implications of the ICJ Advisory Opinion for companies, directors, investors and regulators, including:
What the international climate decision means for Australia
What domestic regulatory reforms could be required for Australia to meet its international obligations
How the ICJ opinion has heightened climate-related risks for fossil fuel and other emissions-intensive companies and may raise the standard of care expected of directors of those companies
The role that corporations, directors and investors could play in regulatory reform and raising ambition for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
This is a hybrid event, with both in person and online registration options.
Lineup
Professor Jacqueline Peel
Professor Jackie Peel is a world-leading expert in international climate law and climate litigation. She is a professor of law at the Melbourne Law School in Australia and was the inaugural Director of Melbourne Climate Futures — the University of Melbourne’s cross-disciplinary climate initiative. Professor Peel served as a Lead Author on Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for its Sixth Assessment Report, directed the Hague Academy of International Law’s first ever climate change course and co-chaired the American Society of International Law’s signature initiative on climate change, amongst other roles. As the recipient of the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Award in addition to her Laureate fellowship, Professor Peel is committed to mentoring a next generation of climate leaders and scholars in climate litigation, with a focus on female early career researchers from the Global South.
Zoe Bush
Zoe Bush is a barrister at Banco Chambers. Prior to coming to the Bar, Zoe appeared as a solicitor advocate and was lead instructing solicitor in contested matters before the High Court, Federal Court, Supreme Court of Western Australia and lower courts. She has experience across a broad range of proceedings, including corporate and consumer law, public law, and regulatory prosecutions. She has particular expertise in climate change and environmental law. Zoe holds a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School, where she studied on a General Sir John Monash Scholarship. She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Law (Hons I) and Arts, where she is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer. She has won numerous academic awards and prizes, including placing first in climate change law at Columbia. In her time as a solicitor, Zoe was awarded 30 under 30 Pro Bono/Community Lawyer of the Year and Junior Woman Lawyer of the Year.
Simon O'Connor
Simon O'Connor is the Director of the Sustainable Finance Hub, an initiative of Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne. As former CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), Simon led a network of 500 organisations representing over US$30 trillion in assets for over a decade, advancing a more sustainable financial system across Australia and New Zealand. Simon is non-executive director of Bank Australia, one of the largest mutual banks in Australia, a member of the Australian Minister for the Environment's Nature Finance Council as well as a non-executive director of Altiorem, a global public library and resource hub for sustainable finance. Simon was previously the inaugural Chair of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative, Chair of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, member of the National Advisory Board on Impact Investing in New Zealand and was an architect in the establishment of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Charlotte Turner
Charlotte (Charlie) Turner is a Master of Environment student at the University of Melbourne focusing on corporate climate accountability and science communication. She is a dual qualified solicitor with expertise in climate and sustainability risk governance, climate litigation (including greenwashing) and commercial litigation. Charlie is also a Research assistant with the Laureate Program on Global Corporate Climate Accountability.
Professor Margaret Young
Professor Margaret A. Young is an ARC Future Fellow, Director of the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School, and Director of Studies of the International Law Association (Australian branch). A specialist in public international law, climate and environmental law, the law of the sea, and international trade law, her research focuses on the blue economy and the relationship between international law, environmental protection, and human welfare. She previously co-led an ARC project with Professor Hilary Charlesworth on the potential and limits of international adjudication, producing award-recognised work on the International Court of Justice. Her publications include the award-winning books The Impact of Climate Change Mitigation on Indigenous and Forest Communities (CUP, 2017) and Trading Fish, Saving Fish (CUP, 2011). Elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law in 2021, she has also served as academic consultant to the World Bank’s Blue Economy Program, Visiting Legal Fellow at DFAT, and Director of Studies at the Hague Academy of International Law, following earlier appointments at the University of Cambridge.
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