NAIDOC Week Seminar: Exploring the connection between Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), Traditional Owners and Sustainable Investing

Speaker: Emma Garlett, SMI Visiting Fellow 2022

Abstract: Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principals have become integral to the future development of sustainable mining, due to the emergence of and increase in appetite for sustainable investment products. We have seen the change in societal values which was demonstrated by the Juukan Gorge incident in 2020. This incident attracted global media attention and a community outpouring of disapproval in relation to the fundamentally unfair and top-down mining practices, as Traditional Owners are engaged and consulted as a box ticking exercise, rather given weight in final decision-making processes. The subsequent Parliamentary Inquiry highlighted the importance of the need for strong reporting processes, and from an investor perspective the power, role, and function of boards was demonstrated. Juukan Gorge was a catalysing event which spotlighted global attention onto the impacts of mining on Traditional Owner groups. There is also a human rights connection: we know that the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People tells us we must allow for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent on decisions which affect the rights and interests of our Indigenous peoples. Organisations are becoming increasingly focused on Indigenous human rights. We have also seen a whole host of sustainability reporting frameworks come into play, such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.

The seminar will explore the relationship between ESG, Traditional Owners and sustainable investing. It is a chance for you to be guided through key sustainability principles, sustainable investment fund decision making and the connections with Traditional Owner rights and interests. This exploration will offer a critical lens through which to consider the place of Traditional Owners in decision-making on their lands.

Bio: Emma Garlett is a Nyungar-Nyiyaparli-Yamatji legal academic at Curtin Law School. She is a member of both the Law Society of Western Australia’s Commercial Law Committee and Indigenous Legal Issues Committee.