ESG 101: Emerging Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Issues for Boards

Join us for the first in a two-part Mintz ESG webinar series on emerging environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria used by socially conscious investors to evaluate corporate behavior, and by companies themselves to assess their own performance.

ESG initially referred primarily to the impact of business investments on sustainability and social issues, and it has since evolved to encompass a broad range of recent social events that affect shareholder interests. Current ESG topics of focus include the economic, community, and health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, sustainability, the increased focus on gender and racial equity in board composition, and the moral imperative of achieving racial justice — not just in the boardroom but throughout corporate America.

Mintz’s multidisciplinary ESG team and BeiGene Ltd. General Counsel Scott Samuels will discuss how boards can and should respond to rapidly changing legal, moral, and social imperatives. The session will also explore how investors’ increased interest in ESG standards intersects with other board concerns, including corporate governance and fiduciary duties, and disclosure rules regarding ESG issues.

This webinar will be the first in our two-part series, with the second webinar addressing statutory developments relating to the racial and gender composition of boards, corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives, and social impact investing in early December.