A Hazy Forecast: ESG, Climate, and the Law

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become a hot button and politicized issue in the past ten years or so. While most of the rules and regulations around ESG have been created by federal regulatory agencies, states are increasingly creating laws that further or hinder ESG goals. A variety of agencies offer incentives for companies to comply with ESG related objectives, but is this working? Are there better ways to accomplish these results? Who’s responsibility should it be to craft and create these goals, the individual corporation, the state, a regulatory agency, the federal government, or the desire of the public?

This program is about the current landscape of ESG as it relates to corporate America. New regulations are cropping up such as the SEC climate rule, which would require companies to disclose their carbon emissions in a standardized way. This program will look at the different avenues that create change in the ESG space, such as government regulation, consumer/investor driven regulation, or incentives such as tax credits. Panelists will discuss these topics along with the future of ESG and give their thoughts on what the best approach might be and whether it will be driven by individual states or the federal government.

The distinguished panel will be moderated by Douglas Chia, President of Soundboard Governance LLC and a fellow at the Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance will discuss the merits and implications of this alternative approach. Joining Professor Chia will New Jersey’s Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, Shawn LaTourette, Partner and Co-chair of the ESG Collaborative at Thomson Hines, Jurgita Ashley, Environmental Law Attorney at Norris McLaughlin, Monica Perez Schroeck, and current Senior Advisor at BarkerGilmore and former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PepsiCo, David Yawman.