**REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 11813153 (England and Wales)**
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
**UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024**
Shaw Gibbs Limited Wey Court West Union Road Farnham Surrey GU9 7PT
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31 March 2024**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|**Report of the Trustees**|1 to 6|
|**Independent Examiner's Report**|7 to 8|
|**Statement of Financial Activities**|9|
|**Balance Sheet**|10 to 11|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements**|12 to 19|
|**Detailed Statement of Financial Activities**|20 to 21|
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES**
## **for the year ended 31 March 2024**
The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Objectives and aims** Purposes and Aims
Our charity's environmental purposes as set out in the objects contained in the company's memorandum of association are:
advancing the protection, preservation and conservation of the physical and natural environment for the public benefit, in particular but not exclusively by:
1) researching strategies and mechanisms that may assist to facilitate a rapid, orderly and efficient re-allocation of capital to business and investment activities that promote sustainable development and the transition to a global low carbon economy to address the threat of catastrophic climate change, and publishing the useful results of that research.
2) researching the material risks of future legal liabilities thereby motivating a behavioural shift in which company directors and pension fund trustees take account of physical climate change risk and societal responses to climate change in corporate and investment decision-making;
3) promoting the integration of the financial risks and opportunities of climate change across all facets of corporate governance and investment practice; and
4) educating the public in all matters relating to the law, practice and administration of justice in connection with climate change, sustainable development and the conservation and protection of the environment and the prudent use of natural resources.
## Ensuring our work delivers our aims
We work to achieve our aims by undertaking legal research and stakeholder engagement to accelerate understanding of climate and biodiversity risk by applying existing companies and securities laws to drive a rapid and orderly transition to a net zero emissions economy. We produce legal research on fiduciary duties and practical tools on how to integrate the risks and opportunities of climate change into corporate governance, in order to minimize the risk of personal liability for directors and officers and maximize near term efforts in the transition to a sustainable economy.
## Public benefit
Although we direct our activities to corporate directors and investor fiduciaries (and the actors that advise them, such as lawyers and accountants, or influence or supervise them, such as financial regulators) the beneficiaries of their improved understanding of the legal risks and subsequent improvements in corporate and investor governance and disclosure are the public at large. This is because we all benefit from efforts to accelerate the transition to a net zero emissions and regenerative economy by mitigating dangerous climate change and addressing biodiversity loss. Our legal analysis is freely available online and we focus on free events that are open to the public. If an event is closed to the public, this is to enable high level attendees in the corporate, regulatory, or legal communities to have safe space to learn and collaborate.
Page 1
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Significant activities** The focus of our work
The CCLI was launched in 2015 by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, as a collaborative project between Oxford University Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and UK charities ClientEarth and Accounting for Sustainability (A4S). The project was spun out, in 2019, from its administrative umbrella of the University of Oxford to operate as a charitable company limited by guarantee. The company is funded by environmental philanthropy and research grants.
The CCLI works towards an economic ecosystem in which decision-makers are educated and advised on climate and nature crises as risks to their companies and investments, rather than perceiving them as external ethical or environmental issues, and on what the law requires or permits them to do with this information. Our work examines the legal basis for directors and trustees to manage and report on climate change and nature-related risk under existing companies and securities law. We commission legal opinions from independent experts within a jurisdiction to build the authoritative evidence base and shift the mainstream understanding of the requirements of corporate and securities laws as they relate to climate change and other nature crises.
We inform directors, fiduciaries, investors, professional advisers and regulators of the potential for personal liability of directors and fiduciaries in relation to the impacts of climate change, through robust legal analysis and impact engagement strategies. We also provide practical tools for directors and fiduciaries to integrate the risks and opportunities of climate change into corporate governance and disclosure. One of our key principles is a focus on being outcome-focused and evidence-led.
The CCLI has carried out work in jurisdictions worldwide, and has seen increased awareness of climate change risk and its impacts on business and investment models during this time. In our experience, the nature of fiduciary and disclosure laws (by which relevant decision-makers may face personal liability for breaches) makes them an important lever for changing decision-making behaviour. By bringing decision-makers' attention to this, and by working with their advisors and civil society, we aim to drive behaviour changes on an individual level in order to accelerate the transition to a net zero emissions economy in line with the Paris goals.
Significantly in 2023-24, CCLI has been able to secure further substantial funding enabling the company to both continue and further expand its groundbreaking work examining the legal basis for directors and trustees to consider, manage and report on climate change, and the circumstances which may give rise to liability.
Page 2
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES**
## **for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable activities**
During the financial year ended 31 March 2024, the CCLI expanded its employment to 4 full time employees, in order to further expand its capacity to carry out legal analysis and research, and to continue to organize and manage events involving stakeholders. In addition to its paid staff, CCLI's board of directors is comprised of either climate governance professionals or legal academics whose work supports the board fiduciary analyses that are core to CCLI's mission.
The CCLI continues to commission and publish legal research in multiple jurisdictions with a particular focus in 2023-2024 on biodiversity risk and directors' duties.
The CCLI's biodiversity workstream officially commenced in April 2022 with the establishment of a three-member team to focus exclusively on this area. The major, but by no means only, 2023-24 milestones have been the publication of two commissioned legal opinions on the obligations of directors to incorporate biodiversity risk into their strategies, oversight, and disclosure. In November 2023 the report" Nature-related risks and directors' duties" in Australia, was commissioned by CCLI and Pollination, and authored by Sebastian Hartford-Davis and Zoe Bush. The launch of the opinion was covered by all of Australia's national news outlets, the television business news, with an extensive segment on the opinion, and an article in the FT's Moral Money newsletter. In March 2024, K.C.s Sharif Shivji and Rebecca Stubbs' opinion commissioned by CCLI and Pollination "Nature-related risks and directors' duties under the law of England and Wales" was launched. It received extensive press coverage and invitations to the CCLI team to present the findings to lawyers and legal organizations and to government.
The CCLI has in 2023-24 continued to work closely with the Climate Governance Initiative (CGI) in co-ordinating and publishing the second edition (July 2023) of the global 'primer' document summarising directors' duties and disclosure obligations in thirty-one jurisdictions, plus the EU. Quarterly updates are also prepared in collaboration with CGI, highlighting significant legal developments.
The CCLI continued its project with world-leading behavioural science consultancy Influence at Work (IAW) to undertake research on the role that psychology plays in understanding how boards engage with the subject of climate change in the boardroom. In 2023, the CCLI and IAW finalised their research on behavioural insights into decision-making in the boardroom and produced a digital tool to facilitate use of the findings.
We also collaborated with other charities, universities and actors aiming to use the law to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy. Highlighted is the continued successful organisation of the climate litigation sessions at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Summits.
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Financial position**
The charity secured funding of £332,484. This positive financial outcome in its fourth year of operation continues to reflect the proof of concept, legal expertise and reputation built by the trustees and their teams while the CCLI operated until 2019 as a project under the auspices of the University of Oxford.
Page 3
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES**
## **for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Principal funding sources**
The charity receives restricted funding from environmental philanthropy. This is from direct grants (from funders Foundation for International Law for the Environment and Full Circle Foundation) the latter of which in 2022-23 has enabled the charity to substantially expand its focus to include examining the acceleration of business and investor action on biodiversity through fiduciary duty.
The charity has previously received sub-grants from the UK charity ClientEarth and research or academic funding from the University of British Columbia and may in future receive these from Oxford University.
## **Reserves policy**
The trustees have examined the charity's requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation. The trustees have established an aspiration whereby the unrestricted funds not committed to projects or invested in tangible fixed assets held by the charity should be between 3 to 6 months of expenditure. However, with low operating costs, the trustees do not deem it necessary to put an exact figure on this. The prior year's negative reserves from unrestricted funds of £9,106 has been reduced to zero through recognition of accounting fees and other overheads as expenditure within the scope of the contract with CCLI's main funder. Nevertheless, if restricted funds do not come in, the charity will wind down its activities to not incur liabilities. All employee salaries are covered by restricted funds.
Funding comes in lump sum grants of restricted funds, which may be recognised in one year, and spent over the course of multiple years in accordance with charitable activities planned and approved by the relevant funder. The present level of unspent restricted funds available to the charity of £373,210 (£298,264 in 2023).
## **FUTURE PLANS**
In, 2024-2025, CCLI will continue to work with key stakeholders in jurisdictions where it has developed or sponsored climate-related legal opinions to increase the impact of these analyses, including director organisations, law firms and regulators. We are concentrating our work in the UK, which is a thought-leader on board and investor climate governance; in Asia, working in India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines; and in the United States. Across our work we are integrating our nature and biodiversity work into our climate workstreams.
Working with partner organisations, such as the CGI and other director organisations, has proven to be an effective way for the CCLI to increase the impacts of its findings. The CCLI intends to further its collaboration with the CGI and other organisations going forward.
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Governing document**
The CCLI is controlled by its governing document, a memorandum of association, and is constituted as a company limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.
Page 4
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Recruitment and appointment of new trustees**
In accordance with the company's Articles one third of the trustees are required to resign at each AGM after the financial year, although they are entitled to be nominated for re-election. The trustees are experts in the field of law, accounting, sustainable finance, and academia. They bring this substantive expertise to the charitable activities on legal research and stakeholder engagement, as well as their governance of the charity. New and replacement trustees will be recruited where a need is identified and suitable training and induction provided to enable them to fulfil their role.
## **Organisational structure**
During the reporting period the charity was managed by an Executive Director Ms E Mulholland, who is also a director/trustee of the charitable company. In August, 2023 Ms. Mulholland resigned due to serious health issues. The board appointed trustee Prof. C. Williams to take on the role on an interim basis. Recruitment after the end of this reporting period of additional staff and a permanent Executive Director, Ms. N. Shippen, has been successful. As a small charity, this enables the Executive Director to have the powers to manage the day-to-day operations of the company, such as authority for banking and entry into contracts in accordance with the delegation granted by the Board, while also being able to play a role in governance activities alongside other trustees. The Executive Director leads a small team of employees (which at the end of the reporting period consisted of the equivalent of four FTE employees), and research assistants and legal experts engaged on a consultancy basis.
The company has been constituted as a charitable company and the articles of association have been modelled on that of a charitable company. The company is registered with the Charity Commission under registration number 1203501.
## **Risk management**
The major risks to which the charity is exposed as identified by the trustees have been reviewed and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. These risks pertain to ensuring continuity of core funding within reasonable time horizons and ensuring the publications, particularly legal opinions, are of the highest calibre.
## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS**
## **Registered Company number**
11813153 (England and Wales)
## **Registered Charity number**
1203501
## **Registered office**
128 City Road London EC1V 2NX
Page 5
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **Trustees**
Dr J A Purcell Accountant and Ph.d. in Law B L Caldecott Academic (resigned 13.10.23) Ms S A Kilgour Solicitor T O Wetzer Legal Academic Dr J Sarra Legal Academic (resigned 6.12.23) Professor C Williams Legal Academic Ms E L Mulholland Lawyer (resigned 1.8.23) Professor E Lim Legal Academic (appointed 6.11.23) Mrs N Shippen (appointed 16.11.24)
## **Independent Examiner**
Andrew Hodgetts BA FCA Shaw Gibbs Limited Wey Court West Union Road Farnham Surrey GU9 7PT
Approved by order of the board of trustees on 12 December 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
Dr J A Purcell - Trustee
Page 6
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Commonwealth Climate And Law Initiative ('the Company')**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2024.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
Page 7
**INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **Independent examiner's statement**
Since your charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Andrew Hodgetts BA FCA The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Shaw Gibbs Limited Wey Court West Union Road Farnham Surrey GU9 7PT
12 December 2024
Page 8
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|Unrestricted
fund
Notes
£
**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
2
-
**EXPENDITURE ON**
**Charitable activities**
Research and Education
-
**NET INCOME**
-
**Transfers between funds**
11
9,106
**Net movement in funds**
9,106
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
Total funds brought forward
(9,106)
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**
-|Restricted
funds
£
332,484
248,432
84,052
(9,106)
74,946
298,264
373,210|2024
Total
funds
£
332,484
248,432
84,052
-
84,052
289,158
373,210|2023
Total
funds
£
422,004|
|---|---|---|---|
||||339,946|
||||82,058
-|
||||82,058
207,100|
||||289,158|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 9
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **BALANCE SHEET 31 March 2024**
|Unrestricted
fund
Notes
£
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible assets
7
-
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
8
-
Cash at bank
-
-
**CREDITORS**
Amounts falling due within one year
9
-
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
-
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT**
**LIABILITIES**
-
**NET ASSETS**
-
**FUNDS**
11
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
**TOTAL FUNDS**|Restricted
funds
£
827
-
380,899
380,899
(8,516)
372,383
373,210
373,210|2024
Total
funds
£
827
-
380,899
380,899
(8,516)
372,383
373,210
373,210
-
373,210
373,210|2023
Total
funds
£
1,414
67,225
230,811
298,036
(10,292)
287,744
289,158
289,158
(9,106)
298,264
289,158|
|---|---|---|---|
The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for
- (a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and
- (b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 10
continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **BALANCE SHEET - continued 31 March 2024**
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 12 December 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:
J A Purcell - Trustee
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 11
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Basis of preparing the financial statements**
The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
## **Income**
All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
## **Expenditure**
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
## **Tangible fixed assets**
Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.
Computer equipment - 25% on cost
## **Taxation**
As a registered charity the company is not subject to Corporation tax to the extent that it applies its surpluses for its stated charitable purposes. The company was not registered for VAT in the reporting period and as such is unable to recover VAT on the costs which it incurs. The company is subject to standard payroll taxes as an employer.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
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continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued**
## **Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits**
The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.
## **2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES**
|Grants
Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:
ClientEarth
Full Circle
Foundation for International Law for the Environment
**3.**
**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):
Depreciation - owned assets
**4.**
**TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS**
Trustees' salaries
Trustees' social security
Trustees' pensions paid|2024
£
332,484
2024
£
5,483
-
327,001
332,484
2024
£
587
2024
£
28,763
-
223
28,986|2023
£
422,004|2023
£
422,004|2023
£
422,004|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||2023
£
-
138,500
283,504|||
|||422,004|||
||||2023
£
550
2023
£
36,000
3,909
893|2023
£
550|
||||40,802||
Trustees salaries shown above also includes amounts paid under consultancy agreements.
## **Trustees' expenses**
There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023.
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continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **5. STAFF COSTS**
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:
|2024
Management
2
No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.
**6.**
**COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**
Unrestricted
Restricted
fund
funds
£
£
**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
-
422,004
**EXPENDITURE ON**
**Charitable activities**
Research and Education
5,420
334,526
**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**
(5,420)
87,478
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
Total funds brought forward
(3,686)
210,786
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**
(9,106)
298,264|2023
4
Total
funds
£
422,004|
|---|---|
||339,946|
||82,058
207,100|
||289,158|
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continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **7. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
|**COST**
At 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024
**DEPRECIATION**
At 1 April 2023
Charge for year
At 31 March 2024
**NET BOOK VALUE**
At 31 March 2024
At 31 March 2023
**8.**
**DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
Accrued income
**9.**
**CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
Bank loans and overdrafts (see note 10)
Other creditors
Accrued expenses|Computer
equipment
£
2,349
935
587
1,522
827
1,414
2024
2023
£
£
-
67,225
2024
2023
£
£
-
3,494
212
-
8,304
6,798
8,516
10,292|
|---|---|
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continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **10. LOANS**
An analysis of the maturity of loans is given below:
|Amounts falling due within one year on demand:
Bank overdrafts
**11.**
**MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
Net
movement
At 1.4.23
in funds
£
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General fund
(9,106)
-
**Restricted funds**
Asia
9,379
-
Biodiversity
129,437
(81,672)
Global FD
106,648
165,724
US
52,443
-
UBC Fund
357
-
298,264
84,052
**TOTAL FUNDS**
289,158
84,052
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
resources
£
**Restricted funds**
Biodiversity
-
Global FD
332,484
332,484
**TOTAL FUNDS**
332,484|2024
£
-
Transfers
between
funds
£
9,106
15,070
17,855
(35,621)
(8,910)
2,500
(9,106)
-
Resources
expended
£
(81,672)
(166,760)
(248,432)
(248,432)|2023
£
3,494
At
31.3.24
£
-
24,449
65,620
236,751
43,533
2,857
373,210
373,210
Movement
in funds
£
(81,672)
165,724
84,052
84,052|
|---|---|---|
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continued...
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued**
## **Comparatives for movement in funds**
|Net
movement
At 1.4.22
in funds
£
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General fund
(3,686)
(5,420)
**Restricted funds**
Asia
28,144
(18,765)
Biodiversity
4,337
125,100
Global FD
119,964
(13,316)
US
52,443
-
UBC Fund
5,898
(5,541)
210,786
87,478
**TOTAL FUNDS**
207,100
82,058
Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
resources
expended
£
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General fund
-
(5,420)
**Restricted funds**
Asia
-
(18,765)
Biodiversity
138,500
(13,400)
Global FD
283,504
(296,820)
UBC Fund
-
(5,541)
422,004
(334,526)
**TOTAL FUNDS**
422,004
(339,946)|At
31.3.23
£
(9,106)
9,379
129,437
106,648
52,443
357
298,264
289,158
Movement
in funds
£
(5,420)
(18,765)
125,100
(13,316)
(5,541)
87,478
82,058|
|---|---|
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continued...
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **12. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES**
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024.
## **13. FUNDS**
## Asia
The Asia fund is £92,750 grant received from Full Circle Foundation for an 18-month legal research and stakeholder engagement project in Hong Kong, India and Singapore, applying existing company law frameworks to the issue of climate change in order to drive a rapid and orderly transition towards a sustainable economy. So many of the decisions concerning the future of climate change are being made in financial centres in Asia today. The CCLI aims to build climate litigation and liability into decision-making in these jurisdictions, which will help to motivate a step change in action among company directors and other fiduciaries. We do so by commissioning legal opinions from independent counsel in order to fill an identified knowledge gap on the application of directors' and fiduciaries' existing legal duties under the laws of Singapore, Hong Kong and India to the issue of climate change, which will help other stakeholders across the spectrum, from regulators through to activist NGOs, working to transform business and investment relating to climate change
## Biodiversity
The biodiversity fund is £138,500 grant received from Full Circle Foundation for an 24-month legal research and stakeholder engagement project for accelerating business and investor action on biodiversity through fiduciary duty. The objective of the project is to shift mainstream understanding of how fiduciary duty applies to the financial issues of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in order to help price biodiversity risk, drive capital towards biodiversity positive solutions, and drive the transition towards a regenerative economy that protects and restores biodiversity. Biodiversity loss can be characterised as a substantial market failure, in which corporations are able to both drive biodiversity loss, and externalise the costs of doing so, at the same time as being vulnerable to the economic effects of such loss. The CCLI aims in this project to build the evidence base to demonstrate that biodiversity loss poses risks to businesses and investments which needs to be considered by directors and other fiduciaries. Through its conducting of legal analysis and researching biodiversity loss as a business risk, financial risk and legal risk, CCLI intends to produce practical tools on biodiversity governance and disclosure.
## Global FD
Page 18
continued...
**COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **13. FUNDS - continued**
The Global FD fund is a £649,070 fund received in three tranches from Foundation for International Law for the Environment over a period of two years and three months for research and education activities to help transform the mainstream understanding of fiduciary duty and climate change. The funding is for the charity to build capacity and resources to undertake legal research and stakeholder engagement applying existing company law frameworks in common law jurisdictions to the issue of climate change in order to drive a rapid and orderly transition towards a net zero emissions economy that underpins the Paris goals. The fund includes £125,000 to collaborate with behavioural scientists to develop a robust evidence-based approach to behavioural change by directors, officers and trustees in fulfilling their fiduciary duties on climate change. This expert analysis informs the activities and interventions of the CCLI and other civil society and academic actors working to transform corporate and investor decision-making on climate change.
Even though this is restricted funding, the broad nature of the approved budget and activities means this fund operates as de facto core funding for our staff, virtual office expenses and other organisational activities. The goal of the sub-grant, to transform mainstream understanding of fiduciary duty, reflects the core of the charity's aims and charitable activities. The initial grant concluded at the end of October 2023 after 'no-cost' extensions and was immediately followed by further related grant of USD416,441 (£327,000) from Foundation for International Law of the Environment, this time to support CCLI to evolve its strategy and determine how its work can continue to have impact in the context of the changing litigation/ ESG landscape.
## US
The US fund is a £91,816 (US $120,005 contracted) sub-grant from charity ClientEarth for an 18 month project to undertake a series of activities to expand US directors' and officers' knowledge of climate change as a material financial risk and the implications of this for their governance and disclosure of climate change under existing corporate and securities laws.
## UBC
The UBC is a small sub-grant from the University of British Columbia for £8602 CAD $15,000 contracted) for knowledge mobilisation and amplification. The funds were directed to design of our website and rebranding.
Page 19
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
£
£
**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS**
**Donations and legacies**
Grants
-
332,484
**Total incoming resources**
-
332,484
**EXPENDITURE**
**Charitable activities**
Wages
-
-
Social security
-
-
Pensions
-
-
Third Party Consulting
-
89,503
Conference tickets
-
1,411
Rent - event hire
-
9,588
Travel & Subsistence
-
8,399
-
108,901
**Support costs**
**Management**
Trustees' salaries
-
28,763
Trustees' social security
-
-
Trustees' pensions paid
-
223
Wages
-
79,282
Social security
-
4,359
Pensions
-
2,011
Insurance
-
8,268
Professional fees
-
255
Rent to support general office
-
4,474
Postage and stationery
-
71
Sundries
-
-
Entertainment
-
303
IT Consumables
-
5,631
-
133,640|2024
Total
funds
£
332,484
332,484
-
-
-
89,503
1,411
9,588
8,399
108,901
28,763
-
223
79,282
4,359
2,011
8,268
255
4,474
71
-
303
5,631
133,640|2023
Total
funds
£
422,004|
|---|---|---|
|||422,004
141,481
11,412
3,005
115,256
2,210
1,675
8,225|
|||283,264
36,000
3,909
893
-
-
-
79
1,088
4,377
-
196
245
4,412|
|||51,199|
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
Page 20
## **COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE AND LAW INITIATIVE**
## **DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|**for the year ended 31 March 2024**|||
|---|---|---|
|Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
£
£
**Management**
**Finance**
Bank charges
-
-
**Governance costs**
Accountancy and legal fees
-
3,304
Independent examiner's fee
-
2,000
Computer equipment
-
587
-
5,891
Total resources expended
-
248,432
**Net income**
-
84,052|2024
Total
funds
£
-
3,304
2,000
587
5,891
248,432
84,052|2023
Total
funds
£
36
1,137
3,760
550|
|||5,447|
|||339,946|
|||82,058|
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
Page 21