How is climate litigation being used to compel financial institutions to fulfil their baseline responsibility to respect human rights? Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, financial institutions (FIs) must not cause, contribute to or be directly linked to adverse human rights impacts arising from their own operations as well as their business relationships. Translating this responsibility to the climate crisis, civil society and affected rightsholders are initiating legal actions against FIs globally. They are seeking (i) the measurement, disclosure and alignment of their Scope 3 emissions with the Paris Agreement goals, and (ii) divestment or disengagement from projects, clients, or sectors characterised by high greenhouse gas intensity. This presentation will analyse 14 domestic court and OECD National Contact Point cases collected from five databases, illuminating a recent ‘rights-turn’ in climate litigation concerning the financial sector.
This event is hosted by Melbourne Climate Futures.
