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Putting Ethics into Environmental Law: Fiduciary Duties for Ethical Investment

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 01:14 authored by Benjamin RichardsonBenjamin Richardson
This article argues that environmental law must target the financial sector, which sponsors and profits from environmental pillage. The rise of a system of finance capitalism has made the financial sector a crucial economic sector. A long-standing movement for socially responsible investment (SRI) has recently begun to advocate environmental standards for financiers. While the SRI movement has gained more influence in recent years, it has come at the price of jettisoning its former emphasis on ethical investment in favour of an instrumental, business case approach. Some modest legal reforms to improve the quality and extent of SRI have yet to make a tangible difference. An alternative legal strategy to promote SRI for environmental sustainability is suggested based on reforming the fiduciary duties of financial institutions. Fiduciary duties tied to concrete performance standards such as sustainability indicators provide a way to restore the ethical imperatives of SRI.

History

Publication title

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Volume

46

Pagination

243-291

ISSN

0030-6185

Department/School

Faculty of Law

Publisher

York University * Osgoode Hall Law School

Place of publication

Canada

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other environmental management not elsewhere classified

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