News & Views

The climate change bill introduced in September 2022 places the onus on governments to make meaningful changes. However the legislation will have impacts for many legal sectors including energy, environment and corporate advisory. For law firms climate law will be important considerations not only for internal day-to-day work but for client related work for new projects, disclosures, regulatory changes and a raft of other issues. See a great summary of how it will affect lawyers and the roles they can play in the Lawyers Weekly Summer digital magazine HERE.

Dr Michelle McQuaid, co-founder of the Wellbeing Lab, recently told HR Leader that having a 'Wellbeing Champion' in your organisation, who can advocate and assist with mental-health first aid, can complement your Wellbeing strategy. Someone who "simply cares strongly about themselves and others" can help inform your policies and procedures and "be there" if anyone needs help. 

See the HR Leader article HERE with a link to Dr McQuaid's podcast.

COP15 resulted in delegates approving a deal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2023. Carbon and Biodiversity, however are linked and while some carbon projects claim they benefit biodiversity, further work is needed to quantify this benefit.

See an article from GreenBiz about how Carbon and Biodiversity is linked HERE

Not that law firms are likely to advertise products using environmentally friendly buzzwords, but plenty of manufacturers do, and consumers as well as those manufacturers need to be aware of intended or unintended deception.
GreenBiz give a list of greenwashing terms that we should try to avoid, or at least are worthy of further investigation!. Their article is HERE.

Volunteering Australia has a large range of volunteer roles including one off, short term and long term opportunities and many volunteer involving organisations can be flexible with times. They also make it easy for you to find a volunteer role that suits your interests, motivation, availability and location. See their online tool 'GoVolunteer', which provides opportunities across a range of volunteering activities.

In a move towards carbon-neutrality by 2050, the EU have reached a deal on the world’s first major carbon border tax. The deal, while still to be approved and to be implemented in 2026, adds a pollution price on certain imports to the European Union and dissuades EU companies from moving production to more tolerant countries, something that EU lawmakers refer to as “carbon leakage.”

See a report from CNN HERE.

The 2022 UN (Cop 15) Biodiversity Conference in Montreal has closed, reaching an agreement which is a significant breakthrough for biodiversity. The agreement reflects never-before-seen recognition from countries at all income levels that biodiversity loss must be stopped through high-ambition changes to our society’s relationship with nature and the way our global economy operates. It creates momentum toward "30 by 30" - aspiring to protect 30 percent of land and marine spaces by 2030. See the UN Website HERE and their statement HERE

The wash-up of COP27 found that while developing countries may have achieved some major breakthroughs, the talks were left wanting stronger emissions reductions and fossil fuel phase-out.

In an EY sponsored summary in 'Economist Impact', five key take-aways from COP 27 are looked at in more detail.

Read the article HERE.

Evidence from the UK has indicated a rise in neck and back pain as a result of working flexibly in ill-configured environments. Employers need to ensure that flexible working arrangements provide those working from home with the right advice about ergonomics, heating and cooling, exercise and discipline. 

See some information from HRLeader HERE, which also has some links to Comcare and Safe Work Australia

The fourth edition of The Australian Pro Bono Manual was released in November 2022 and is now entirely on-line. This is a practice guide and resource kit for law firms and is the latest in a series that has been published over 20 years.

It is designed as a practical ‘how to’ guide for establishing and developing a law firm pro bono program and is primarily directed to firms that either do not have, or are in the process of establishing or developing, a pro bono program.

Go to the manual HERE