Climate Change Litigation - Managing environmental, social and governance litigation risk

Climate change related legal action is a real and growing threat. Businesses in Asia and across the globe are subject to increasingly stringent disclosure requirements relating to environmental, social and governance issues and will be held accountable for misstatements and false representations. As the world rallies to achieve net zero emissions, legal action has moved beyond the purely punitive or remedial to become a much more dynamic and strategic tool for bringing about broader change. It is not just the outcome of litigation that is important. In an age of social media, the activism and attention that climate related litigation generates can be just as (if not more) significant than a court judgement for ‘win’ or ‘lose’.

In this article, we consider the implications of climate related litigation and the strategies that can be used to help mitigate the risks.

*Any reference to "Hong Kong" or "Hong Kong SAR" shall be construed as a reference to "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China".