Government to crack down on ‘greenwashing’ in company reporting

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The government has published draft legislation which would require large companies to publish an annual sustainability report including emissions estimates and climate-related financial risks. Once in place, company directors will be held liable for ensuring the accuracy of the figures, cracking down on widespread 'greenwashing' in current reports.

Transcript

00:00 It's long overdue and it's great that the government is formalising what has basically

00:05 been a choose your own adventure for companies until now.

00:09 The alarming part of the proposal is that the government is suggesting placing a three-year

00:14 moratorium on third-party litigation over misleading reporting and risk management by

00:19 companies.

00:20 And this is notionally because it's, you know, this is such a new space and companies need

00:25 time to get this right.

00:27 But to be clear, sustainability reporting has been around for over 40 years.

00:32 These are some of Australia's biggest companies with most sophisticated, you know, operating

00:38 procedures and some of Australia's biggest budgets.

00:42 They're well aware of the climate crisis and they've been well aware of climate risk for

00:46 some time.

00:49 It's quite shocking that the government is proposing protecting some of Australia's biggest

00:53 polluters from greenwashing litigation by the community.

00:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended