Corporate Regulation, Climate Change and Corporate Law: Challenges and Balance in an International and Global World

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the impact of corporate governance on the way in which corporations handle their environmental obligations. It is noted that the current relationship between corporations and the environment is unsatisfactory, drawing on levels of climate pollution and disasters such as the Tafigura to demonstrate the fact. Possible methods through which corporate governance can be used to address environmental issues are explored. The neo-liberal bent of current supervisor standards, in particular the World Bank's country assessment and OECD's guidelines emphasis on shareholder interests, is highlighted. It is argued that the current capitalist models fails to take adequate account of environmental concerns. The paper compares of UK and Albanian approaches to the regulations of directors' duties, as a reflection on the corporate governance policy of these jurisdictions. The ability of shareholders to protect and enforce corporate and environmental interests against directors who mismanage the corporation under both systems in considered. The paper concludes that the adoption by Albania of laws allowing for the lifting of corporate veils for companies acting internationally represents a significant advantage for minority stakeholders, including the environmental lobby, to ensure corporate responsibility.