Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Viewpoints

Jen Rubin, chair of Mintz’s ESG practice group, explains how two recent court decisions striking down California’s endeavor to diversify corporate boards is a perfect time to rethink—and possibly reframe—such efforts. The focus should be more on disclosure, and not mandates, and be transparent, she says.

California's statutory governance initiatives were dealt another blow after both corporate governance diversity efforts — a female representation mandate and underrepresented community mandates — were struck down.  Now that both statutes have been invalidated corporate boards and the stakeholders and communities those boards serve are asking what is next for statutory governance initiatives?

There is no “one size fits all” approach with respect to board responsibility for ESG oversight, say Mintz attorneys Megan Gates, Jacob Hupart, and Jen Rubin. Some may form a new committee, some may give the duties to an existing committee, or still others might have each board member assume all ESG responsibilities. In any case, they say, investors are raising the stakes on ESG matters.

In this webinar, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, and Members Megan Gates and Jacob Hupart, examine key takeaways from the SEC’s proposed climate-related disclosures rule.

Read about energy legislation and energy policy news, including President Biden’s FY 2023 request for $48.2 billion for the DOE, the Senate Climate Change Task Force’s proposal for energy independence, and the EPA’s Clean Air in Buildings Challenge.

This alert outlines key aspects of the SEC’s new proposed rules on climate disclosures, entitled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.”

Investment funds that target companies with ESG policies have experienced record growth. Yet it’s difficult for companies to know which ESG actions will affect the value of their stock. Member O’Kelly McWilliams looks at how creating an ESG infrastructure will help companies capture value as the investment community and market “catch up” with the corporate world’s widespread embrace of ESG.

In the latest discussion in our ESG webinar series, O’Kelly E. McWilliams III was joined by an informative panel featuring Katherine Grawe, Joe Aguilar, and Mamadou-Abou Sarr. In this webinar, our panelists explored how a variety of issues informed the deployment of ESG policies and shared best practices for putting ESG into action.

Learn from Mintz’s ESG subject matter experts as they explore what ESG really means for and within the legal profession, examine why law firms must embrace ESG as a business-critical priority, and share how law firm leadership can address ESG strategically and holistically.

Mintz Member Jennifer Rubin authored an article published by Corporate Counsel exploring how a new generation of tech savvy, social justice-focused, and environmentally aware employee stakeholders are creating recruitment, retention, and other employment challenges. In the article, she wrote that corporate counsel can play a key role in managing and mitigating this human capital risk, not only in response to the growing environmental, social, and governance disclosure and regulation trends, but as part of the need to design future-proof legal frameworks for the workplace.

In the world of Mergers and Acquisitions (“M&A”), both buyers and sellers are placing greater emphasis on Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) credentials. 

On November 18, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice “to call attention to an upward trend in environmental crimes and associated illicit financial activity.” This focus on environmental crimes is designed to help address FinCEN’s priorities previously announced on June 30, 2021.

A recently proposed Department of Labor regulation entitled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” (the “Proposal”) addresses the duties of retirement plan fiduciaries when considering economically targeted investments – i.e., investments that take into account environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors. Issued in response to a May 20, 2021 Executive Order, the Proposal would significantly modify prior, Trump-era rules on the subject. This post examines the Proposal from the retirement committee perspective.

Join Tom Burton, Chair of the Mintz Energy & Sustainability Practice, Megan Gates, Chair of the Mintz Corporate Practice and Co-chair of the Mintz Securities & Capital Markets Practice, Dan Romito, Partner, Consulting – ESG Strategy & Integration at Pickering Energy Partners, and Sarah Borg-Olivier, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President at Instar Asset Management for a discussion on the practical considerations surrounding ESG. 

Read about how institutional investors, proxy advisors, society, and asset managers are using their voting power to influence companies to adopt Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) governance factors and goals.

In a previously held webinar titled, "Social Innovation in a New World," Christopher Marquis, a professor who teaches about sustainable enterprises and management at the Cornell SCJ Johnson College of Business and author of Better Business: How the B Corp Movement Is Remaking Capitalism, and Benjamin Stone, a Mintz corporate attorney and a former social entrepreneur and executive, engage in a broad discussion of the social innovation landscape.

Environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investing has experienced quite the regulatory roller coaster in recent years.