Business and Climate Change: Law, Policy

This course will provide students with an understanding of the ways and extent to which climate change law and policy is relevant to businesses, as well as the role of sustainability professionals in practical implementation. The course is divided into several core topics, including: (i) an overview of international and U.S. climate change policy and law, including the Paris Agreement, the Inflation Reduction Act and energy transition policy support, and human rights/environmental justice; (ii) market-led, voluntary initiatives such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and related developments including the mainstreaming of ESG investing, sustainable finance, and the proliferation of corporate net zero goals; (iii) corporate governance, shareholder activism, and the emergence of mandatory regulation on climate disclosures, such as the E.U.’s Taxonomy Regulation and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rule; (iv) carbon pricing, carbon markets, and “offsets”; (v) greenhouse gas emissions accounting and data challenges; and (vi) climate-related litigation and enforcement actions against corporations and financial institutions in the U.S. and other key markets, including “greenwashing” litigation and “anti- energy company boycott” investigations by several U.S. states.