home
frankly speaking podcast

#31 Sandra Cossart: Why is ESG increasingly getting its day in court?

Listen to Sandra Cossart, Executive Director of Sherpa and Strategic Litigation expert.

The Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment database now records more than 2000 cases of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, a tripling of the number since just 2019. Recent high profile cases have seen Shell ordered to cut its emissions in the Dutch courts. Volkswagen car owners winning compensation over false environmental claims about their vehicles. And the Bank of New York Mellon Fund fined 1.5 million USD about a failure of checks on ESG investment funds.

Some of Sherpa’s cases include current action seeking to get TotalEnergies to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement, a case seeking judicial investigation against fashion companies for alleged concealment of human trafficking and crimes against humanity in their supply chains and the prosecution of construction company Lafarge for crimes against humanity in Syria.

In this conversation, find out more about:

  • why strategic litigation is important and what are the obstacles
  • why we are seeing more and more cases on environmental, social and governance issues
  • the importance of civil liability in the CSDDD
  • how to get a better balance of power for victims and hold companies accountable

“We've been pushing for the CSDDD for years. The fact that there is a directive is a very positive sign because ten years ago we would not have bet on that. It also unleashed corporate lobbies that have undermined the text of the commission which was already not very ambitious. To be really efficient and to prevent environmental and human rights harm, changing the civil liability regime and reversing the burden of proof for victims is a prerequisite.”

Sandra Cossart in Frankly Speaking

You may also like these episodes

34:38

#66 Is There a Silver Bullet to ESG Data? Why the Answer is More Complex Than You Think

How can companies get the data which they need from suppliers? Listen to Natalie Grillon (OS Hub) and Tara Scally (Zeeman) in Frankly Speaking.

07:06

#65 Countdown to Omnibus: Join the Conference on Sustainability & Competitiveness

Why the Omnibus, portrayed by some as a tidying up exercise to get rid of duplication, should be seen as something more serious than that? Listen to Filip Gregor, Head of Responsible Companies at Frank Bold.

42:22

#64 Alberto Alemanno & Patrizia Heidegger: Von der Leyen 2.0 & Trump 2.0 - A Battle for Sustainability

How to respond to the backlash against sustainability legislation? Listen to Alberto Alemanno, founder of the Good Lobby and Patrizia Heidegger, deputy secretary general at EEB