ESG Criteria and Risks to Corporation and Boards: Establishing Measurements, Oversight, and Assessment

Description

General and in-house counsel need to be familiar with the ESG criteria that investors, regulators, and other stakeholders are using. Boards of directors are being called upon to consider how ESG impacts business strategy, operations, and oversight, as well as how boards should approach ESG decision-making and risk oversight.

While standards organizations publish guidance for voluntary reporting of ESG performance, governments around the world are moving toward mandatory disclosures. In environmental matters, focus is on the disclosure of a company’s impact on the climate and its use of sustainable resources. The social aspect of ESG includes a business' contribution to society and managing relationships with customers, local communities, the public, and the government. Finally, governance issues focus on the management of the business' ESG risks and opportunities. Altogether, ESG initiatives are meant to create communal and financial value for companies and their stakeholders now and into the future.

ESG issues have come further to the fore during the COVID-19 crisis and social justice movements. These have increased pressure on companies to communicate how they manage ESG (particularly around employee health and safety and their supply chains during the pandemic).

Listen as our authoritative panel provides best practices on creating ESG policy that best serves the company, the board, and investors.