âSavage blowâ: Coal companies hit back over banksâ flight from fossil fuels
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By Anne Hyland
May 15, 2021
Large Australian banks, superannuation funds and insurance companies are adopting a view that coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, should eventually be retired as an energy source.
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The politics around coal is treacherous. In the Upper Hunter of New South Wales, a state by-election that could further weaken the ability of Premier Gladys Berejiklian to govern, has become the latest battleground over the future of coal, and the risk to thousands of workers losing their way of life.
26 April 2021
Company directors that rush to make net zero pledges without fully examining the firm’s ability to meet the goals could be guilty of “misleading or deceptive conduct” and vulnerable to regulatory or legal penalties.
They also have a legal obligation to act on climate risk, not just to disclose it, or face accusations of “greenwashing” that could carry real legal consequences.
Those are the opinions of lawyers Noel Hutley SC and Sebastian Hartford Davis, published in an official update to their landmark 2016 legal opinion entitled “Climate Change and Directors’ Duties”, commonly known as the Hutley opinion.
The update followed a business and regulatory roundtable on climate risk hosted by the Centre for Policy Development, and attended by major business groups including the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Executive Briefing | Our Energy Exports to Asia VIEW EVENT DETAILS
How will changing energy policy across our major Asian export markets impact Australia’s trade relations with the region?
In 2020, coal and natural gas represented 26 per cent of Australia’s total exports. But with our largest trade partners setting ambitious net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, rethinking our energy mix and fading out our fossil fuel exports has never been more crucial.
Asia Society Australia warmly invites you to join us online for a member-only briefing with
David Moult, CEO of Yancoal, and
Zoe Whitton, Executive Director of Pollination, as we explore how our energy exporters can align with progressively tightening emissions caps in Asia.
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Child care is set to be a key issue at the next federal election. So what might it look like?
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Industry advocates say Australia s childcare system needs major political and economic reform.
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Child care is shaping up to be a key issue at the next federal election, with parents wanting to know if it will become more accessible and affordable.
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Child care is set to be a key issue at the next federal election, with economic and social reasons for change