Companies need to focus on developing a clean energy strategy: the impacts of not having one are no longer just reputational. Insurers are increasingly looking for a demonstrable commitment to environmentally friendly production. Searching questions should be asked about how their clients’ businesses are dealing with environmental concerns. The insurance industry also needs to explore how companies are monitoring and managing risk in these areas. This should be part of every D&O renewal meeting discussion.
Climate change-related litigation is on the rise, and the organisations named in court filings are from an increasingly wide range of industry sectors. Within this wider legislative trend, there is also a growing incidence of cases brought against firms for engaging in so-called ‘greenwashing’. This can range from accusations that firms are making unsubstantiated or misleading claims about the environmentally friendly credentials of their products or services, to making highly selective disclosures about the environmental impacts of their business practices, to misleading and/or overstated claims about their performance in the context of halting climate change (sometimes referred to as ‘climate-washing’)