ACCEL NextGen Series: Realism in the Corporate Sphere – Greenwashing and Net Zero

THIS EVENT IS BEING HELD ONLINE AND IN-PERSON AT SYDNEY LAW SCHOOL.

The Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law invites you to a panel discussion on the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility’s case against Santos. Developed and chaired by the ACCEL interns, this event forms part of the ACCEL NextGen Series.

Although corporations are increasingly responding to the climate crisis through implementing sustainability targets and promoting ESG practices within their day-to-day business, environmental law has begun to focus on ‘greenwashing’: the deceptive persuasion of a company to the public that their policies and protocols are environmentally friendly.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (“ACCR”) has recently filed a landmark case in the Federal Court against Santos, one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies. This is the first case in which a company’s net zero emissions target has been challenged, as well as being the first relating to the viability of carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) and the environmental impacts of blue hydrogen.

The ACCR filed their case initially on the basis that Santos engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in claiming that CCS is able to make gas a “clean fuel.” The ACCR alleges that the pathway for net zero emissions that Santos mapped out in its 2020 Annual Report for reaching its sustainability goals is not substantiated by scientific evidence.

In August 2022, the ACCR amended pleadings to include additional claims arising from Santos’ 2020 Investor Day Briefing and their 2021 Climate Change Report. Allegations include that ‘blue hydrogen’ production would actually increase Santos’ greenhouse gas emissions and that CCS is not practical to capture all of Santos’ increased emissions. Further, ACCR claims that their net zero plan does not account for the expected projected emissions and production growth from oil and gas exploration.

You will hear from those directly involved in the landmark case and from experts in the field of environmental law and corporate citizenship.

Panelists:
Dr Sebastian Hartford Davis, Barrister, Banco Chambers
Professor Christopher Wright, The University of Sydney Business School
Sally Torgoman, Partner, Infrastructure, Assets & Places, KPMG

About the event

The panel will delve into the potential implications of the case, such as the role of environmental law in enforcing corporate responsibility and how it can be harnessed to push corporations beyond mere ‘box-ticking’ of ESG requirements. Further, the panel will explore how corporations can balance financial stability and their sustainability goals in keeping with legal obligations, considering the future of this developing area of the law.

Wednesday 19 October 2022, 1-2pm AEDT

CPD Points: 1

This event is being held an online and in-person at Sydney Law School. Please indicate your viewing preference when registering.

This event is hosted by the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (ACCEL) at Sydney Law School.