Isabella Kelly fires up the crystal ball and invites Tim Stutt and Mel Debenham to share their ESG predictions for 2024. Mel discusses the timing tightrope for decarbonisation projects, Commonwealth environmental legislative reform and a very different approach to regulation. Tim queries if there is an elastic start date for mandatory climate reporting, whilst the required corporate uplift crystallises. Shifting landscapes emerge for Australia’s Sustainable Finance Strategy, post-Voice referendum pathways, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and Australia’s Modern Slavery Act reform. They emphasise the important interrelationship between ESG spheres and close with some federal election musings around balancing energy policy and cost of living, social and biodiversity impacts.

For more, check out the AICD’s Climate Governance Study 2024, for which Herbert Smith Freehills conducted research into ASX 200 governance structures, and the jointly prepared guide Bringing together ESG: Board structures and sustainability.

Tim Stutt and Mel Debenham are joined by Silke Goldberg to debrief COP28 through the lens of four paradigm shifts – (1) climate finance, (2) fast tracking the energy transition and emissions reduction, (3) nature and people, and (4) the “just transition”. They close with reflections on the vital role of lawyers and the legal industry in bridging gaps and fostering agreement.

For more, check out our COP28 hub: https://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/insights/key-topics/esg/COP28

Olga Klimczak, Natalie Gaspar and Shiv Jhinku take the wheel to explore HSF’s latest Future of Work report. They unpack the key ESG related findings including cost of living, pay and benefit inequalities as a potential trigger for activism, as well as a significant rise in demand for workplace health and wellbeing support. With Australia on the cusp of profound legislative change, and a raft of new sustainability reporting standards increasing business scrutiny, we discuss the new opportunities this provides to proactively and meaningfully engage with employees, particularly in light of Generation Z’s entrance into the workforce.

For more, check out our report: Future of Work 2023: https://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/insights/reports/future-of-work-report-2023