News & Views

Australia is on-track to phase out single-use plastics with both NSW and WA joining Victoria, Queensland and South Australia to ban single-use plastics. Lightweight plastic bags, plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery, polystyrene cups, and takeaway containers will be the first items to go. Over the next 20 years, NSW’s plastics plan and waste strategy will stop an estimated 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from ending up in our environment and waterways. 

AusLSA recently undertook a pulse check which reached 80% of our member firms. What struck me was the number of firms in the a process to recruit a dedicated sustainability manager. Law firms are not the only ones looking for people. The competition for the best sustainability professionals is getting tougher so, how can you attract, retain and empower the best people to drive progress at your organization?  Read about four key insights HERE

Greenpeace have singled out AGL for falling short on its own long term environmental commitments. The Greenpeace campaign highlights a transition to higher levels of transparency and accountability for  businesses’ public statements and policies. There is a growing risk that businesses' sustainability statements and actions could become a reputational liability unless they are genuine, meaningful and matched by demonstrated commitments to meet them. READ MORE

The Modern Slavery Act requires mandatory disclosure from around 3,000 Australian organisations with revenue over $100m, including many law firms.

While COVID has interfered with the smooth rollout of the program as the deadlines approached, 1,159 statements covering 2,588 entities have now been lodged. This includes 18 law firms. View all statements from law firms HERE or search the entire database HERE

Fourteen Australian law firms have received awards based on the 11th annual Australian Workplace Equality Index and the third Health + Wellbeing Equality Index. The firms were among a record 186 organisations and 44,915 employees who actively participated this year. READ MORE

Just when you thought that business flights are an intractable issue, the Air France-KLM group completed its Paris to Montreal long-haul route powered by a sustainable aviation fuel using 16 percent cooking oil. 

The Airbus A350, used for this flight, already consumes 25% less fuel than previous Airbus models. The aircraft did not require any modification of its engines, its storage or distribution infrastructure to incorporate the biofuel. Current French climate legislation requires all French aircraft to use at least 1% SAF by 2022 and at least 5% by 2030. READ MORE 

Australia's Centre for Policy Development's Climate and Recovery Initiative has released a new legal opinion that Greenwashing can constitute misleading or deceptive conduct by company directors. The opinion is a supplement, to landmark 2016 and 2019 opinions of Noel Hutley SC and Sebastian Hartford Davis on climate change and directors’ duties to consider, disclose and respond to climate-related risks. READ MORE 

Business leaders are calling out for more leadership on climate change and a commitment to a Net Zero target. King Wood Mallesons' 2021 Directions Survey suggests sixty two percent of respondants rated the importance as greater than seven out of ten which increased to sixty eight percent in the energy sector. This is consistent with the growing number of Australian businesses commiting to programs that reduce their carbon footprints. READ MORE

Paper is made from trees taken from native forests or plantations or from recycled paper.  Only 20% of the world’s working forests are currently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®). This webcast will help you understand the importance of sustainable forestry and how companies across the pulp and lumber industries are using their influence to increase the demand and supply of FSC-certified forest products.

To ensure that the wheels of justice keep turning, Victoria has passed legislation to make permanent some changes that were implemented for COVID. The changes enable courts to continue to hear matters via teleconferencing; keeping people safe, improving efficiency and arguably reducing the need for travel and paper production. See the release from the Victorian Premiers Department HERE.