In 2024 Australia’s Federal Government introduced legislation to make large private and public corporations, superannuation funds and asset managers immune from private litigation on climate change transition plans and other disclosures for three years. The immunity was to accompany new, economy-wide climate related financial disclosures.

Before the immunity proposal was debated in the Senate, Equity Generation Lawyers published a paper Australia’s energy transition market faces imminent integrity risks (August 2024).

The paper outlines why the immunity undermines the new disclosure regime and represents unparalleled, and unjustified, corporate overreach on an international scale.

Investors, particularly international investors, will be put at risk by the proposal which serves to make Australia an international pariah by way of a perverse market signal that will eliminate the ability for investors to challenge company transition plans.

Noel Hutley SC and James Mack, instructed by Equity Generation Lawyers, have delivered a memorandum of opinion Superannuation Trustee Duties and Climate Change dated 16 February 2021.

The memorandum provides authoritative guidance to superannuation fund trustees on how to fulfil their legal obligations with respect to climate change risk.

The memorandum can be accessed here.

The memorandum updates a 2017 opinion on the same topic, also by Noel Hutley SC and James Mack, available here.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
Equity Generation Lawyers acknowledges and respects the Australian First Nations traditional custodians of the lands upon which our offices are located. We extend our respect to First Nations Elders – past, present and emerging – and to all First Nations people.