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ARTICLE · 15 JANUARY 2024

'ESG Litigation Risks' For Pension Trustees: A Spotlight On Identifying And Mitigating Risks

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What should "ESG litigation risk" mean to pension trustees and what can they do to mitigate it? This article looks at themes which may give rise to claims in this rapidly developing landscape...

United KingdomEmployment and HR
Suzanne Padmore
Suzanne Padmore

What should "ESG litigation risk" mean to pension trustees and what can they do to mitigate it? This article looks at themes which may give rise to claims in this rapidly developing landscape and suggestions of how trustees may respond to minimise those risks

"ESG litigation risk" is a topic which is increasingly on the agenda of risk committees at many corporations and institutions. Even governments aren't immune, with news of the revived Court action by Client Earth against the UK government's Net Zero Strategy which is being challenged as being in breach of the Climate Change Act 2008. Pension scheme trustee boards should be joined to this list of parties with an eye to ESG litigation risk. Pension scheme trustee boards are no doubt used to assessing risks and considering probabilities; it is in their very nature. However, faced with their risk register, or 'Own Risk Register' under the General Code, what should ESG litigation risk actually mean to pension

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