International Law, Directors Duties, and Corporate Climate Accountability

Panel session at Melbourne Law School on 21 May 2026. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, delivered in 2005, ruled that nations must act to combat climate change, including by regulating fossil-fuel emitting activities in their jurisdictions whether conducted by public actors or private entities like corporations. This landmark international decision has wide-ranging implications for the corporate sector in Australia and globally. This panel session, jointly convened by the Laureate Program on Global Corporate Climate Accountability and Climate Integrity, discussed some of the potential implications of the ICJ Advisory Opinion for companies, directors, investors and regulators, including: - What the international climate decision means for Australia - What domestic regulatory reforms could be required for Australia to meet its international obligations - How the ICJ opinion has heightened climate-related risks for fossil fuel and other emissions-intensive companies and may raise the standard of care expected of directors of those companies - The role that corporations, directors and investors could play in regulatory reform and raising ambition for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Speakers: Professor Jackie Peel, Laureate Fellow on Global Corporate Climate Accountability and world-leading expert in international climate law and climate litigation. Zoe Bush, barrister at Banco Chambers; adjunct senior lecturer at University of Western Australia, and lead instructing solicitor in contested matters before the High Court, Federal Court, Supreme Court of Western Australia and lower courts. Simon O’Connor, Director of the Sustainable Finance Hub, Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne and non-executive director of Bank Australia. Professor Margaret Young, ARC Future Fellow, Director of the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School, and Director of Studies of the International Law Association (Australian branch).