Australia to acknowledge climate risk to government bonds after world-first court settlement

The Australian government has settled a class action brought by university student Katta O'Donnell, agreeing to acknowledge that the climate crisis poses a risk to bond values. Photograph: Maggie Weaver

The Australian government has agreed to settle what has been described as a world-first court case that accused it of misleading investors by failing to disclose the financial risk caused by the climate crisis.

In 2020, Melbourne university student Katta O’Donnell launched a class action accusing the then Morrison government of breaching a legal duty and deceiving investors in sovereign bonds by not informing them upfront of the climate risk they faced.