A bill set to go before the Senate during the current period gives corporations the green light to continue greenwashing their financial statements for the next three years, environmental advocates say. or signup to continue reading The government's current bill to force corporations to includes a clause that gives businesses legal immunity from private claims brought against false or misleading climate statements for three years from January 2025. During his first reading of the bill, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the three-year transition period acknowledged that making climate disclosures for the first time would be "challenging" for some businesses.
"ASIC can still take action for breaches of the reporting requirements during this period," he said. However, many businesses already report their climate risks, particularly large public corporations and major emitters, after sustained shareholder pressure. Director of corporate climate NGO Climate Integrity Claire Snyder said the immunity period opened the door to misleading statements from corporations about their emissions reductions plans.
"Three years of legal immunity would give a greenlight to continue greenwashing in company reporting and delay urgently needed climate action," Ms Snyder said. Australia's corporate regulators have recently been taking action on greenwashing by major corporations, after a found half of businesses had made misleading statements about their environmental credentials. Earlier this month, fin.