United Kingdom: Navigating in the eye of the ESG storm

Baker McKenzie's Joanna Ludlam and Jon McLeod of DRD Partnership set out how to deliver combined legal and communications response to contentious ESG challenges.

In brief

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have become pivotal for organisations across all sectors. ESG has become an established framework that helps stakeholders understand how an organisation manages core risks and opportunities beyond traditional financial metrics.

Under a broad spectrum of factors, businesses are increasingly scrutinised for their environmental footprint, long-term sustainability, ethics, and consistent application (and cultural implementation) of their values. This scrutiny comes from a variety of stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, regulators, and the wider community. As core elements of ESG continue to prove an important factor in consumer decision-making, there has been a trend of businesses marketing their environmental and social impact, projecting a positive brand identity, at times misleadingly. However, expectations from investors, consumers, policy makers, and regulators have now become more sophisticated, leading to greater exposure for firms who do not prove they are 'walking the talk' behind their ESG claims.


Contents

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This content has been co-authored by Jon McLeod, Partner from DRD Partnership.

 

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