The panel appointed by the Australian Government to review the integrity of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme under the Emissions Reductions Fund has delivered its report. The panel rejected claims about the integrity of ACCUs and concluded the framework of the scheme is “essentially sound” but included 16 recommendations for significant changes be made … Read more

We explore the topical Environment, Social and Governance issues of the day in Australia. Each episode, Partners Timothy Stutt and Melanie Debenham are joined by an expert third wheel guest to explore the issues from their unique perspectives. Mel is an expert on business-critical environment, planning, heritage and native title regulation in Australia. Tim specialises … Read more

The parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity have adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Framework), which will guide the next decade of global action on biodiversity. The Framework contains some key targets that will impact on government policy, reporting mechanisms and land use practices, which is designed to ensure that biodiversity becomes a … Read more

Background The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) concluded yesterday in Montréal. There were high hopes, as noted in our pre-COP15 post, for a ‘Paris Agreement for nature’ and we will consider if the agreed Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (the Framework) delivered on this ambitious goal. Positives 1. States acknowledged the scale … Read more

There are so many ESG-related publications and developments that it is hard to keep abreast of them all. For this reason, every two weeks, our firm has been publishing a tracker of ESG-related publications and developments, with a primary focus on developments that may be of most interest to or impact our clients, be they … Read more

On 12 December 2022, the Australian Government released a consultation paper seeking views on the design and implementation of a mandatory climate-related financial reporting regime in Australia. This comes following the Government’s commitment in its October budget to introducing standardised and internationally-aligned climate disclosure requirements, and Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ various statements on the topic. Read more

On 18 June 2020,  the European Parliament adopted the regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment[1] (the Taxonomy Regulation), a milestone in the EU’s Action Plan on Sustainable Finance (the Action Plan). It has since been published in the Official Journal and entered into force on 12 July 2020. The EU-wide green taxonomy set out … Read more

A new HSF-AICD guide Bringing together ESG: Board structures and sustainability helps directors and management establish and elevate ESG matters to the board. Read more