Climate Change and Good Corporate Governance – new report

Monday, 19 December 2016

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    The Governance Leadership Centre speaks with leading governance researcher David Beatty on how shareholder activism is transforming traditional governance models.


    Written by Dr Nick Wood of Climate Policy Research and Kate Mackenzie from The Climate Institute, the report covers:

    • The global context for climate change risks – including the implications of the Paris Agreement as well as the physical and economic impacts of climate change;
    • Climate change risks through a governance lens – including investor and shareholder expectations, tools for portfolio analysis, and insights into new climate data available to boards;
    • Insights on ‘good practice’ – drawing on Australian and international case studies of organisations responding to climate change risks;
    • Emerging governance challenges – legal views, disruptive technologies, data challenges and disclosure expectations; and
    • Take-outs for directors – suggested questions to ask and key matters to investigate at the board table.

    “Directors who understand how climate change may affect their organisation, and who can identify and harness relevant and up-to-date sources of information and use them in their decision-making, will be vastly better equipped to meet the emerging challenges and opportunities,” note the authors.

    Dr Nick Wood discusses the Climate change and good governance report

    Climate change and corporate governance2:04

    The guide can be used on several different levels: as a ‘quick start guide’ for directors new to the topic; as a ‘board brief’ to connect boards with updated data and resources; and as a ‘strategy input’ for directors looking to actively engage with the topic.

    About the authors

    Nick Wood is the Director of the consultancy Climate Policy Research and a strong advocate of the view that Australian businesses need to build the capacity to identify, measure and manage the financial risks associated with climate change. Climate Policy Research works with clients from government, academia, IT and banking on the use of detailed data to improve their risk management. Nick has recently been appointed as Chair of the Stakeholder Advisory Group for co-ordination body for climate research in Australia; the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub. Nick has a PhD in Nuclear Reactor Technology and completed post-doctoral research in Atmospheric Chemistry. Nick worked in the UK on climate change adaption policies and joined the sustainability team of a big four global accountancy firm in 2008 working on the introduction of carbon price mechanisms and business responses in Australia.

    Kate Mackenzie is head of investment and governance at The Climate Institute, an independent, non-partisan research and communications group. Kate worked as a journalist prior to joining TCI, including 10 years at the Financial Times in London and Sydney. She is the author of TCI papers on Australia's financial system and climate risk, and on the financial implications of climate change impacts to Australian housing.

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