BEYOND CLIMATE RISK: INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY INTO THE DUTIES OF THE CORPORATE BOARD

Finding out how business can be a part of the shift to sustainability has never been more crucial. This article starts out by presenting the results of a multi-jurisdictional comparative analysis of corporate law, seeking to investigate the barriers, to and possibilities for, sustainable business in the dominant business form - the corporation. The social norm of shareholder primacy is identified as a major barrier to sustainability. Shareholder primacy has taken over the space that corporate law leaves open for the discretion of the individual corporate board. The financial risks of ignoring the impacts of unsustainability have the potential to bring sustainability into the core of the profit-seeking purpose of the corporation. The article concludes with a brief presentation of a work-in-progress - a Sustainable Governance Model - which can be used as a starting point for businesses wishing to transition towards sustainability. The model can also form the basis of a corporate law reform proposal, which is arguably a necessary step to shift business away from the unsustainable 'business as usual' approach and onto a sustainable path.