ESG (Environmental, social and governance)
Here, you will find links to reports, guides, articles, podcasts, webinars, films and more on environment, social and governance (ESG) and related areas from across the IBA. You may wish to use the general IBA website ‘search’ function above to help you find additional ESG-related content.
This report considers the role arbitration might play in resolving contractual ESG disputes.
Report from the Capital Markets Forum and Securities Law Committee provides an overview of how countries regulate ESG disclosures.
In this webinar, our panellists discuss the increasing pervasiveness of ESG norms in legal practice and why lawyers need to take this seriously.
This is a first step in the context of the IBA plans regarding the Environment, Social and Governance movement, which is one of the five presidential priorities for the term 2023-2024
Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama
IBA President
Conferences and events
A list of sessions that took place throughout the conference can be downloaded here.
In February 2024, the IBA North American Regional Forum and the Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law Section (SEERIL) convened the IBA’s second ESG Conference at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, New York. The conference featured expert panellists from across private practice, civil society, academia, ratings agencies and multilateral development banks, on topics including:
- Global ESG trends and hot takes – the Brussels effect, the backlash, the view from Africa and more
- ESG, politics, noise and business – helping clients to focus on what is important and to ignore the rest
- Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) – how to help clients manage the ‘S’ in ESG
- Due diligence and ESG – identifying new requirements and key risks for clients
- Chief Sustainability Officer/Climate Officer/Chief ESG Officer – what’s the role and what’s the challenge? How are departments organised? What are the hallmarks of effective leadership?
In the May 2024 edition of the Sustainable Law in Action podcast, Sara Carnegie, IBA Legal Projects Director, and barrister Melissa Murphy KC, speak with expert panellists at the IBA’s 2024 ESG Conference about the role of lawyers in the ESG space, and the challenges and opportunities facing businesses and law firms in this evolving and increasingly politicised area.
Soundbites from the 2024 IBA ESG Conference
Short on time? Listen to soundbites from our conversations with expert panellists at the 2024 ESG Conference below.
Listen: Sarah Fitts
Seasoned transaction lawyer, with emphasis on energy and infrastructure.
Listen: Christopher Stephens
Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group.
Listen: John Sherman
Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University
Listen: Senator Doug Jones
American attorney and former U.S. senator for Alabama, where he served from 2017 to 2021.
Digital Content
Committee Content
Podcasts
The ESG and sustainability landscape
| 29 March 2023
Climate crisis and the law: the rise of climate litigation
| 03 November 2022
Webinars
- ESG regulatory developments and key issues in the Asia Pacific region
3 Dec 2024
- Law firms’ ESG decisions in our current geopolitical environment: a follow-up discussion after the US presidential elections
12 Nov 2024
- Law firm decisions on ESG in a changing geopolitical environment
22 Feb 2024
- The rise of ESG: how important is it for law firms and their client relationships?
29 June 2023
- ESG: emerging regulatory risks in the US and Europe
28 June 2023
Film
LPD Showcase: Mitigating climate risks
This showcase panel focused on the growing intersection between the climate change and ESG movements.
SPPI Showcase: business and rule of law
This showcase session focused on how UN SDG #16 provides a golden thread that runs through the IBA’s activity.
ESG standards in Latin America
The Securities Law Committee has produced a video analysing the state of affairs for ESG standards in Latin America.
Reports and Resources
In 2023, in recognition of significant developments in hard law and public policy that have advanced uptake of the UNGPs since release of its initial guidance, the IBA published an ‘Updated IBA Guidance Note on Business and Human Rights: The role of lawyers in the changing landscape’, to help lawyers across the world and from all practice areas to understand the increasing relevance of business human rights to legal practice.
The Updated Guidance Note is available in multiple languages, including Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese and Spanish.
Report on use of ESG contractual obligations and related disputes
The IBA Arbitration Committee's ESG Subcommittee, with the assistance of the IBA Business Human Rights Committee, studied the role of arbitration in resolving contractual ESG disputes. The Subcommittee conducted desk research, surveyed in-house counsel and compliance staff, and held roundtable discussions to understand the use of ESG clauses and the appropriateness of arbitration for dispute resolution.
The report concludes that arbitration is likely to play a role in resolving ESG disputes in business-to-business contracts and investment treaties. Arbitration's consensual nature and its inclusion in many investment treaties make it a suitable forum for addressing ESG concerns. The report also discusses the types of ESG obligations found in contracts and investment treaties and how they may play a role in dispute resolution.
The IBA Law Firm Management Committee has prepared this ESG Toolkit to help members understand the scope and importance of ESG.