The year 2020 proved to be a clarion call for global society. There is no longer doubt that increasingly we are experiencing unpredictable events, known as ‘black swans’, ranging from pandemics to financial meltdowns. One of the ’climate black swans’ against which experts have cautioned is the financial crisis caused by climate change. In this context, the Australian case of McVeigh v. Retail Employees Superannuation Trust for the first time tested climate risk and the fiduciary duties of retail pension funds. Settled in November 2020, the case has already raised the bar for climate risk practice in pension funds. In particular, McVeigh suggests that courts, as well as out-of-court settlements, may articulate a duty, rather than grant permission, for pension funds to consider climate-related financial risk in their investment decisions.

The article builds on McVeigh to ask two questions. Firstly, what is the role of climate change litigation in promoting climate regulation by pension funds? Secondly, what is the relative importance of pension funds for the risk management of climate-related financial risk via due diligence compared with risk assessment via disclosure? Fundamentally, the article explains climate-related financial risk as a cultural phenomenon and argues that a discussion on pension fund fiduciary duties must consider disclosure in addition to due diligence. It argues that McVeigh articulated the need for a normative approach to pension fund disclosure duties and an extension of the field of climate-related risk disclosure to embrace climate-related risk due diligence.

事实证明，2020 年是全球社会的号角。毫无疑问，我们正在经历越来越多的不可预测的事件，被称为“黑天鹅”，从流行病到金融危机。专家警告的“气候黑天鹅”之一是气候变化引起的金融危机。在此背景下，澳大利亚McVeigh诉零售雇员退休金信托案首次测试了气候风险和零售养老基金的信托责任。该案于 2020 年 11 月和解，已经提高了养老基金气候风险实践的门槛。特别是麦克维建议法院以及庭外和解可能明确规定养老基金在其投资决策中考虑与气候相关的金融风险的义务，而不是授予许可。

这篇文章在McVeigh的基础上提出了两个问题。首先，气候变化诉讼在促进养老基金气候调节方面的作用是什么？其次，与通过披露进行风险评估相比，养老基金通过尽职调查对气候相关金融风险进行风险管理的相对重要性如何？从根本上说，文章将与气候相关的金融风险解释为一种文化现象，并认为在讨论养老基金信托义务时，除了尽职调查之外，还必须考虑披露。它认为，McVeigh明确表达了对养老基金披露职责的规范方法的必要性，以及气候相关风险披露领域的扩展，以涵盖气候相关风险尽职调查。