Company Law and Sustainability

'Company law has typically been seen as a dry and technical subject principally of interest to the community of lawyers. Traditionally its aim has been to create legal certainty for companies themselves in their relations with each other in the marketplace, and to define and combat corrupt, fraudulent or other criminal acts by individuals using company structures to shield their behaviour. This book takes a completely different perspective, analysing how company law is being and can be used as a vital tool to combat new collective threats in the world including climate change, social disintegration and conflict. It is partly a response to the successes, but also the limitations, of movements towards corporate social and environmental responsibility in the last twenty years, that have largely been pursued through a range of voluntary, soft law and other initiatives kept strictly separate from those of corporate governance.' Richard Howitt, MEP, European Parliament Rapporteur on Corporate Social Responsibility, from the Foreword
'… for those who want a tour of the problems which arise where corporate law and sustainability collide, it is a useful review of the horizon.' Stephen Bloomfield, FCIS, International Company and Commercial Law Review
'Company Law and Sustainability is clearly one of the most comprehensive works on the topic to date. Overall, the book embodies a truly accessible and well thought out comparative approach to many of the key issues discussed, as well as some ideas for future reform. One can only hope that those with the power to instigate change discover it, before it is too late.' Ben Archer, Legal Studies