ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

In August 2021, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) filed a claim in the Australia Federal Court against Australian oil and gas company Santos over alleged greenwashing statements made in its 2020 Annual Report.

The ACCR said that Santos’ claims that natural gas provides “clean energy” and that it has a “credible and clear plan” to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2040 are misleading under the Australian Corporations Act 2001 and the Australian Consumer Law.

The ACCR claims that this is “the first court case in the world to challenge the veracity of a company’s net emission target”.

The claim is currently proceeding to trial and so there has not yet been a substantive decision in this case.