Australia.
Running strategic climate litigation.
Working on law reform activities.
Expanding the role of the pro bono lawyer – embedding climate transition and environmental factors in commercial decision-making.
In April 2021, MinterEllison released its report for the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, Liability risk and adaptation finance: Legal action as a driver and consequence of climate-related physical risk adaptation. Lead authors, Sarah Barker (Partner and Head of Climate Risk Governance), Ellie Mulholland (Senior Associate, Climate Risk Governance) and Josh Dellios (Partner, Environment and Planning) were assisted by a team of MinterEllison lawyers from offices all over Australia. The briefing paper explores the legal implications of adaptation to climate-related impacts by reference to existing cases and the likely future direction of litigation. It shows how climate litigation can act as both a driver and a consequence of adaptation and maladaptation and reveals the potential for litigation to lower a number of barriers to adaptation finance. It also provides a foundation from which financial institutions can develop methodologies to analyse liability risk within climate change risk scenario analyses and pricing models.
Sarah Barker, Ellie Mulholland and Josh Dellios launched the report with UNEP FI at a global webinar also featuring insights from financial sector experts from the UNEP FI’s global financial institutional partners.
