Are lawyers a shoo-in for sustainability?

IN THEIR 2021 Focus 15 report, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) described sustainability as a growing business concern that has become a strategic priority. Much of this increased importance is driven by investors who are demanding information about sustainability activities. Likewise, customers and affected communities are becoming more aware of the power that they have to affect corporate behaviour. In turn, this has invoked a response by corporates and their legal departments.

GCs and ESG, a 2022 survey by law firm Morrison Foerster (MoFo) with the Corporate Counsel publication, had nine in 10 counsels surveyed indicate that they had led, or are leading, a material portion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives in their respective organisations.

Suz Mac Cormac, chair of MoFo’s ESG, energy and social enterprise + impact investing practices, summed up the survey results as reflecting “a time of enormous opportunity for the role of in-house counsel, to lead the ESG transformation and reshape their role beyond compliance and disclosure”.