Recent years have shown a rise in activist shareholders striving to shape corporate conduct around ESG matters, particularly climate change. Institutional investors are increasingly backing such initiatives, driven by the need to showcase their ESG commitments, fulfil investment strategies and reduce risk associated with their investment labels.

In England and Wales, shareholder activism has traditionally taken the form of shareholder resolutions during general meetings. However, investors are now expanding the climate agenda beyond such forums and looking to the courts to put pressure on large corporates.

This article in our series on climate disputes looks at emerging shareholder claims related to climate change in the courts of England and Wales and provides an international perspective by briefly considering the position in the US and Australia, two other key jurisdictions.

To follow the rest of this series, please see our Climate Disputes Hub.