[Article] A shell for directors? Issues facing climate-oriented derivative action claims by Joe Negrine

Former visiting researcher at APCEL, Joe Negrine, has published in the Australian Journal of Corporate Law. This article, A shell for directors? Issues facing climate-oriented derivative action claims (2024) 39 Aust Jnl of Corp Law 286, was conceptualised during Joe’s exchange semester at NUS Faculty of Law and finalised during his time at APCEL. Congratulations, Joe!

About the Article

This article considers the substantive and procedural challenges facing a novel private climate litigation strategy: derivative action proceedings for breaches of the directors’ duty of care and diligence. Using the ClientEarth
claim against Shell as its guiding example, this article compares the likelihood that directors’ duties could be used as a tool for climate action in Australia and the UK. It argues that procedural issues surrounding questions of good faith and whether such proceedings are in the corporation’s best
interests overshadow the potentially widening scope of directors’ duties vis-à-vis identifying and managing climate-related risks. Despite ClientEarth’s unsuccessful ‘test case’, it has provided a roadmap and foundation for future climate litigation, which s valuable within the broader system of environmental law and policy.