ClientEarth successfully held its first event in the UK parliament earlier this week, co-hosted with FairPensions.  The topic for discussion was company transparency on environmental and social issues; the event title 'Avoiding environmental Enrons: Environmental and social issues as financial risks, and the future of company reporting'.

photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli

Deepwater Horizon has spelled out in no uncertain terms the risks that extractive companies take with the environment and people's lives on a daily basis, and the impunity with which they are used to doing so.  It is long overdue that this recipe for disaster gets the degree of attention that Deepwater has, and Deepwater is a catastrophe worthy of attention.  But now we need to see the bigger picture.

Royal Dutch Shell will face scrutiny on its controversial investments in the Canadian tar sands at its next Annual General Meeting.  A shareholder resolution announced this week calls on Shell to have an external review carried out of the business risks associated with its huge investments in oil extraction from the tar sands.  The motion will be debated and voted on at the company's AGM in May.