Green but Not Enough: Sustainability in Canadian Corporate Governance

Authors

Poonam Puri, Osgoode Hall Law School of York UniversityFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

Poonam Puri: 0000-0003-3233-5019

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

11-25-2019

Source Publication

The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability. Ed. Beate Sjåfjell and Christopher M. Bruner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. 146–160. Print. Cambridge Law Handbooks. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108658386.017

Keywords

environmental sustainability; climate change; securities regulation; corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Canadian law adopts the corporate social responsibility model of environmental sustainability. This represents a weak sustainability approach, where environmental sustainability is justified only if there is a net positive impact on a company’s long-term financial performance. Corporate law constraints, such as the duties of loyalty and care, and the oppression remedy, have not traditionally required corporations to consider sustainability. However, courts have begun to move the common law in that direction, expanding the duty owed by the board of directors from shareholders to the corporation as a whole, including a consideration of stakeholder interests. Meanwhile, securities regulators have begun requiring environmental disclosure. Institutional investors, such as pension funds, have adopted climate change policies, and shareholder proposals regularly address environmental sustainability, although both tend to adopt a weak sustainability approach. Overall, under Canadian law, environmental sustainability appears to be important only insofar as it impacts the financial performance of companies.

Repository Citation

Puri, Poonam, "Green but Not Enough: Sustainability in Canadian Corporate Governance" (2019). Articles & Book Chapters. 3369.
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/scholarly_works/3369