Climate change and the risk of economic disruption are considered from the business point of view. Particularly emphasis is on business risks and opportunities arising in the context of international climate change regime. Climate change litigation is also considered.

Risks and opportunities

Climate change represents an enormous, yet under-appreciated risk to the business community. The principal driver of risk is the global and national need to respond. Risks to business include physical impacts, regulation, competition, changing markets, investment, effects on the price of energy, energy infrastructure, litigation and shareholder activism. All sectors will be affected. Finance, property, insurance, agriculture, energy infrastructure, tourism, property and energy users are sectors likely to have the highest exposure. These risks arise from the physical impacts of climate change itself and the responses of governments, investors, shareholders, competitors, customers, consumers, the public and the media.

Climate change litigation

Over the last decade, laws codifying national and international responses to climate change have grown in number, specificity, and importance. As these laws have recognised new rights and created new duties, litigation seeking to challenge either their facial validity or their particular application has followed. So too has litigation aimed at pressing legislators and policymakers to be more ambitious and thorough in their approaches to climate change. In addition, litigation seeking to fill the gaps left by legislative and regulatory inaction has continued. As a result, courts are adjudicating a growing number of disputes over actions – or inaction – related to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Readings

1. World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2010, Vision 2050: The new Agenda for Business. Available at http://www.wbcsd.org/Overview/About-us/Vision2050/Resources/Vision-2050-The-new-agenda-for-business
2. WBCSD Submission of Climate Change Business Solutions to the United Nations Climate Summit, May 2, 2014. Available at http://www.wbcsd.org/Clusters/Climate-Energy/Resources/WBCSD-Submission-of-Climate-Change-Business-Solutions-to-the-UN-Climate-Summit
3. Clean Energy Trends 2014. Available at http://cleanedge.com/reports/clean-energy-trends-2014
4. B. Preston. The Influence of Climate Change Litigation on Governments and the Private Sector. Available at http://www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/preston_influence%20of%20climate%20change%20litigation.pdf