Corporate Law and Climate Change

07 Nov 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm

David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge

As part of the Cambridge Seminar Series on Law and the Climate Crisis 2025/26, Professor Ernest Lim (National University of Singapore) will talk about corporate law and climate change, with an opportunity for networking afterwards.

This presentation explores the external dimension of directors’ duties—whether directors may address climate impacts and other externalities even absent shareholder financial benefits—in contrast to the shareholder‑value focus. Its significance stems from universal investors, the EU due‑diligence regime, and high‑emitting SOEs. Lim examines three arguments: UK nature clauses are constrained by shareholder primacy; US shareholder‑preference claims are undermined by financially driven activism; and SOE directors’ duties can align with state ownership (as shown in China).

Ernest Lim is a Professor of Law and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.