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Company law serves as a potential impediment to the realization of sustainability, which aims to establish a safe and just global space for humanity. The prevailing perspective in company law contends that, while pursuing value maximisation, companies produce externalities that impact society. However, these effects are often perceived as confined within corporate boundaries or addressed through other legal frameworks, such as tort and environmental law for environmental externalities.
This perspective rests on the flawed assumption that the legal entity's boundaries perfectly align with its economic activities. Moreover, it implies a limited regulatory capacity of company law over corporate activities and their resulting effects. Despite these challenges, companies are fundamentally creations of law, and it is within the domain of company law to regulate the corporate form.
When the corporate structure poses a threat to sustainability, scholars should actively use the law to address these concerns. While it has been asserted that company law plays a pivotal role in the regulatory landscape of sustainability, this contribution should not be passive. Company law, positioned at the core of unsustainable corporate behaviour, should be actively employed to rectify these issues. Utilizing company law as a tool for sustainability is not just a theoretical contribution but a practical step toward redressing the wrongs caused by unsustainable corporate practices.
Claudia Paduano is a Lecturer in Business Law at the University of Leeds. She previously taught at the University of Edinburgh, where she gained experience in teaching Business Entities, Commercial Law, Banking and Financial Law. She collaborated on both national and international research projects. She collaborated with an Italian social cooperative as a researcher, providing her expertise in facilitating professional training and lectures for individuals from non-EU countries to seek employment and family reunification in Italy. On a national level, she helped to draft a report commissioned by Amnesty International UK, in which she explored the intersection of business and human rights. The report was used as a consultation paper to the Scottish Parliament regarding a Human Rights Bill for Scotland in 2023. Claudia’s research interests span across company law, law and economics, and the intersection of company law and sustainability. She is also a New York qualified attorney (non-practicing).
- Speaker
- Dr Claudia Paduano
- Hosted by
- Centre of Commercial Law
- Venue
- Online Event
- Contact
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Contact Dr Qiang Cai for event link at qiang.cai@abdn.ac.uk