This year, an important case — the first of its kind in the world — will be heard in the Federal Court of Australia involving the intersection of climate change risk and investments by an Australian superannuation fund.
It’s a case which may become a precedent that will affect trustees of super funds. But it will also concentrate the minds of company directors — and in particular, directors of trustee companies — on the growing chorus concern about climate change risk and their fiduciary responsibilities.
The case involves the Retail Employees Superannuation Trust (REST) with $57 billion under management and a member of the fund, Mark McVeigh, a 24-year-old University of Queensland ecology graduate from Brisbane.