--- title: Climate literacy is a core legal competency date: 2026-06-22T15:48:05Z modified: 2026-06-22T15:52:28Z permalink: "https://chancerylaneproject.org/news/climate-literacy-is-a-core-legal-competency/" type: post status: publish excerpt: As climate risk becomes embedded in business decision-making, legal teams are increasingly expected to translate climate considerations into contracts, governance and commercial practice. wpid: 11466 categories: - Organisational updates featured_image: "https://chancerylaneproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/vitaly-gariev-g3iBxscqlKc-unsplash-scaled.jpg" timestamp: 2026-06-22T15:52:28Z tags: - Organisational updates --- The realities of adapting to climate change are no longer abstract or distant. They are increasingly playing out in our day-to-day lives, reshaping industries, business models and the way organisations think about risk. For many professionals, this means the nature of their work is fundamentally changing – and legal teams are no exception. Climate considerations are now tangibly influencing the legal practice. They are shaping how contracts are drafted, how commercial transactions are structured, how procurement processes operate, how organisations engage suppliers, and how businesses respond to evolving regulatory requirements. Legal professionals are increasingly being asked to navigate climate-related risks and opportunities not as a niche sustainability issue, but as part of core business decision-making. This is why we developed our Climate Contracting in Action course – to help legal professionals build the practical climate literacy needed to respond to this shift. It focuses on how climate considerations show up in day-to-day legal work and how they can be embedded directly into contracts, transactions and commercial decision-making. Climate change is now widely recognised as a material business risk, with implications that cut across operations, supply chains, finance, governance and reputation. Businesses are facing physical risks from extreme weather and resource disruption, transition risks linked to policy and market changes, and growing scrutiny from investors, regulators and stakeholders. Legal professionals sit at the centre of this changing risk landscape. They are responsible for helping organisations identify, manage and mitigate risk through contracts, governance frameworks, procurement arrangements and strategic advice. But doing this effectively requires more than a broad awareness of climate issues. It requires practical understanding of how climate-related considerations intersect with legal work in real-world contexts. In other words, climate literacy is no longer simply a “nice to have” or a specialist sustainability concern – it is a core competency for legal teams that want to support their clients and organisations effectively. ### One-off training isn’t enough. Climate change is an evolving issue, shaped by rapidly changing regulation, shifting market expectations, technological innovation and emerging regulatory precedent. What may be considered best practice today could look very different in a few years’ or even a few months time. Legal professionals need ongoing learning that equips them not only with foundational knowledge but with the ability to keep pace as these issues evolve. There is also no single climate risk profile that applies across all organisations. The realities of climate change look different depending on sector, geography, supply chain exposure and business model. A manufacturer, a financial institution and a public sector body may all face climate-related legal questions, but the practical implications will differ significantly. For legal teams, this makes structured, applied learning particularly important. Developing climate capability is not simply about understanding climate science or broad sustainability concepts – it’s about building the confidence to apply that knowledge in day-to-day legal practice, in ways that are relevant to the organisations and clients they support. ### Changing client expectations As climate-related regulation develops and businesses increasingly recognise climate as a material risk, clients are looking to their legal advisers for practical guidance. They want support on embedding climate considerations into contracts, procurement, governance and commercial decision-making – not just advice on compliance once issues arise. This means legal teams are under growing pressure to move beyond awareness and develop practical skills that can be applied in real legal and commercial scenarios. Bridging this gap will require educational programmes that help legal professionals build climate literacy in a structured, practical and sector-specific way. For legal professionals, it is no longer enough to understand climate change in principle; legal teams need to understand what it means for the decisions they make every day. Because as climate change continues to reshape business, climate literacy is increasingly becoming part of what it means to be an effective legal professional. ### Upskill with Climate Contracting in Action Individuals can take our CPD-certified _Climate Contracting in Action_ course for free, designed to help professionals understand how climate considerations can be embedded into contracts, governance and commercial decision-making. For organisations, the programme is also available in SCORM 1.2 format, enabling seamless integration into existing learning management systems (including Cornerstone, Moodle and SAP SuccessFactors) at no cost – with no new software, no separate logins, and minimal implementation effort. The course delivers approximately six hours of self-paced, CPD-certified learning and a digital badge on completion, making it a straightforward way for L&D, legal and HR teams to scale structured climate training across their organisation. [Sign up for the course here](https://forms.chancerylaneproject.org/s/start-of-course-survey?cohort=701N100000UJ2b7&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Flearning.elucidat.com%2Fcourse%2F67cabae990e7c-67da9bf59640b#start-of-survey) [Request the SCORM files here](mailto:traininig@chanceryproject.org) ## Topics **Categories:** [Organisational updates](https://chancerylaneproject.org/wp-content/uploads/wp-mfa-exports/taxonomy/category/organisational-updates.md)