Written by Professor John Chandler

A seminar to launch the new book, Sustainability Law in Mining and Energy was held in the Law School at the University of Western Australia on 23 October, and pleasingly the two commentators endorsed the timing, objectives and quality of the book.

The two commentators were Robyn Glindemann, a projects lawyer with over 30 years experience advising resources and energy companies, banks and government agencies,  and Jess Dyer, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Alinta Energy, a large energy utility listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Jess previously worked in house in upstream oil and gas, mining and public infrastructure projects. After an initial overview by the author, they commented on the book. The seminar was chaired by Emeritus Professor Richard Bartlett the author of leading texts on mining law, indigenous peoples and native title.

The book says in the Preface that it is intended as ‘a guide to the growing body of sustainability law in mining and energy for those trying to make sense of an increasingly complex picture as the world struggles with the energy transition and climate change. It covers basic concepts for students and those unfamiliar with the area, but also more advanced ideas for company directors, government officials and company executives relating to mining and energy environmental and development rules, governance, company law, reporting and disclosure’. There is a need for the book as regulators and companies are facing a tidal wave of regulation covering the sustainability aspects of mining and energy operations and reporting on climate change and sustainability. The aim of the book is described in Chapter 1 as ‘to explain and analyse the application of sustainability principles and rules in mining and energy’. Both commentators endorsed the timeliness of the publication of the book and Jess described it as ‘a really useful resource’.

Robyn said she found the book easy to read. She discussed the approach of the book to sustainability, commenting that in her view it is really important to not just focus on climate change but on sustainability more broadly. With that in mind she agreed with the definition of sustainability in the book which combines environmental protection with projects improving their performance and improving the total quality of life. That is of course challenging for companies when their directors are under a fundamental duty to act in the best interests of their shareholders. That was a matter taken up by Jess Dyer who explored some of the issues that directors are having to deal with in signing off on the climate change and sustainability reports being required by legislation. In Australia the applicable legislation is the corporations law, which brings with it penalties for non-compliance. It is one thing to produce a sustainability or ESG report whose accuracy is not subject to statutory penalties if the directors do not get it quite right. It is another to try and set out the financial consequences of the impact of matters like climate change on the operations and financial position of a company. Not only is it hard to estimate those matters but it requires multi-disciplinary skills to produce the requisite accounts. Chapters of the book cover directors duties and the applicable reporting regulations in Australia, the USA, Canada and the European Union.

The audience were clearly engaged with the presentations and a vigorous question and answer and discussion followed. Their comments supported the timeliness of the book and the importance of the issues it raises.

Sustainability Law in Mining and Energy
A Guide to the Sustainability Requirements

John A.P. Chandler, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Centre for Mining, Energy and Natural Resources Law, University of Western Australia

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