Creating Positive Tipping Points: How The Law Can Drive Positive Change For Better Environmental Outcomes

ClientEarth CEO Laura Clarke moderated a discussion about how the law can secure positive tipping points for a better planet during the Global Tipping Points Conference 2026, held from 12 to 15 October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The panel featured speakers from Tax Justice Network, Kiu & Co., and the United Nations Human Rights Office. 

Law as a Positive Tipping Point

Positive tipping points are often associated with technologies, markets, behaviour or public opinion. But behind them sits the power of law, which sets the rules of the game. However, the current legal system enables private profit at public expense, allowing individuals and corporations to extract and accumulate wealth and power through legal arbitrage.

During the session, the speakers discussed using corporate law, tax law, human rights, and international law, along with broader social and political change, to accelerate and secure a shift. 

Corporate law shapes shareholder power, liability, and directors’ duties between a company and the people who control it. It is the operating system of the economy, but limited liability, weak enforcement of directors’ duties, and limited corporate accountability constrain it. Hence, corporate law reforms act as a catalyst, introducing a new duty or route to accountability that others can build on. 

Separately, tax is not only about raising revenue, but it also shapes what society discourages and who contributes to the public good. However, legal arbitrage, tax havens and secrecy allow wealth and environmental harm to be separated from responsibility. As such, tax reforms, which must be politically durable, should reinforce positive behaviour and ensure harmful conduct has consequences. 

Last but not least, human rights and international law establish duties that reach beyond short political cycles and national borders. They recognise climate and environmental harm as questions of protection, equality, protection, and justice. On the other hand, a mismatch exists between ecological systems, which cross borders, and legal authority limited by territory. International law can help overcome this mismatch, while human rights law can shift power toward communities and people most exposed to climate and ecological harm. 

Lasting Positive Change with Law 

To conclude, Laura said positive tipping points will not come from one dramatic legal breakthrough, but from reinforcing changes in tax, corporate, human rights, and international laws alongside shifts in politics, markets, and culture. This is how the law can create positive tipping points faster and make them harder to reverse.

The discussion reflects ClientEarth’s work in Asia to help governments and the private sector build the legal frameworks needed to support the region’s clean energy transition and conserve its natural resources. Forums such as the Global Tipping Points Conference serve as an opportunity to foster meaningful partnerships and conversations for lasting positive change.