Partner and Head of Climate Change,
Allens

Jillian is a leading climate change, ESG and environment law specialist. She is the Allens head of climate change and co-leads the firm’s ESG team.

Jillian brings two decades of experience to support Australia’s largest listed and unlisted companies and funds to navigate the full spectrum of legal issues in the net zero transition. She works closely with three of Australia’s big four banks on their most challenging climate issues, including shareholder activism and lending portfolio decarbonisation. She also supports Australia’s major superannuation investors, including Australia’s largest superannuation fund, on greenwashing presentation and mandatory climate reporting.

Multinational clients in the energy, services, banking, infrastructure, technology also trust Jillian to support them to navigate climate laws in Australia. These include US and European oil and gas majors, dual-listed energy and industrial companies, and major Canadian banks and superannuation investors. Jillian is particularly skilled at developing an Australian strategy which seamlessly integrates with clients’ global context and strategy.

Jillian is amongst the region’s top advisors supporting sustainability, legal and corporate governance functions to derisk sustainability disclosures, prepare for shareholder-led climate and nature resolutions at AGMs, and to successfully navigate Australia’s new mandatory climate related financial disclosure regime.

Jillian also helps clients to navigate emissions abatement and reporting legislation, conduct climate change due diligence in complex energy transactions (particularly in Australia’s upstream oil and gas sector, which is a key target of strategic climate litigation), negotiate carbon aspects of complex corporate transactions, establish large scale carbon farming arrangements, invest in natural capital funds, and support multinational and domestic companies with carbon credit acquisition transactions.

Jillian’s litigation practice includes successfully representing one of the respondents, a multinational energy company, in Victoria’s first Climate Change Act test case.

She is a sought-after thought leader on climate issues, with her comments published in the Australian Financial Review, and her recent article All Roads Lead to Paris: Implications of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change for Australian Directors appearing in the most recent edition of the Australian Environment Review.

Jillian’s practice is complemented by her role as a practising non-executive director of the World Wildlife Fund Australia, overseeing projects including Climate Resilient x Nature, and Koala Friendly Carbon.