Panel 2: Adaptation Duties in the Boardroom

The New Climate Fiduciaries Colloquium was held on February 21, 2025, at Columbia Law School, hosted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, in partnership with the European Corporate Governance Institute.

The second panel, moderated by Ilmi Granoff, turned inward—to the boardroom—and featured panelists Tammi Etheridge, William Savitt, Roy Shapira, and Reilly Steel. Here, the problem is not malice, but misfit. The business judgment rule, once a shield against overreach, now risks becoming a barrier to adaptation. As discussed, fiduciary law was not designed for planetary feedback loops. Directors may be operating in good faith, but if they lack the tools, time, or understanding to grapple with climate risk, the system falters.