As scrutiny on how organisations are responding to the risks and opportunities presented by climate change continues at a domestic and international level, organisations in many sectors are facing a range of (often novel) climate-related claims from stakeholders. The growing recognition of climate change as a human rights issue has also led organisations to declare objectives that require appropriate compliance processes, including new avenues for seeking redress. In order for businesses to effectively manage the legal and compliance issues most likely to arise from their response to climate change, such as the risk of greenwashing claims, they first need to have a strong grasp of their obligations.
We support clients who are addressing novel ‘greenwashing’ and ‘bluewashing’ legal issues that have not yet been tested before Australian courts. Our cross-functional team of experienced lawyers address the complex legal and reputational challenges posed by climate change, providing comprehensive legal advice and representation on a range of climate-related matters and greenwashing claims, including:
- Climate-related litigation: including managing climate-related regulatory risks, defending against climate-related claims and advising on avenues to recover losses for the impact of climate-related events.
- Greenwashing risk prevention and mitigation: including conducting greenwashing risk assessments, developing robust sustainability reporting and marketing strategies, advising on consumer protection and competition law issues and representing clients in greenwashing investigations and litigation.
We work closely with our clients to understand how sustainability is incorporated into their business strategy and develop a tailored response to mitigate risk and achieve their organisations’ sustainability goals, including on climate. This typically requires us to consider both the legal and reputation risks, and to look beyond the particular investigation or dispute. We support our clients as they develop their legal and corporate affairs strategies, review existing policies and procedures, identify opportunities to improve their approach and (where relevant) undertake remediation. We have a particular focus on the intersection between law and policy in this evolving area, which helps us propose effective and practical solutions for our clients’ climate-related challenges.
