‘Holding yourself accountable’: Squire Patton Boggs commits to net zero by 2035 with new ESG strategy

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‘Holding yourself accountable’: Squire Patton Boggs commits to net zero by 2035 with new ESG strategy

Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) has become the latest firm to wade into the thorny environmental, social and governance debate, unveiling a UK ESG strategy with a pledge to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2035.

The Cleveland-headquartered firm, which has UK offices in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, is targeting a 15% reduction year on year, which it hopes will see emissions fall by 70% by the end of the decade. Continue reading “‘Holding yourself accountable’: Squire Patton Boggs commits to net zero by 2035 with new ESG strategy”

The ESG debate: Balancing growth and risk

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The ESG debate: Balancing growth and risk

As part of an ongoing series of thought leadership roundtables and webinars we have been hosting with Paul Hastings before, during and after lockdown, we were delighted to finally have an in-person debate at Paul Hastings’ London office in November. We gathered together leading general counsel (GCs) and Paul Hastings partners to discuss the role the legal team within corporates plays in advising the board on major risks – particularly environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns – without stifling healthy growth.

The session examined how businesses are facing a significant number of challenges and opportunities, and the senior in-house counsel present discussed some of the specific challenges they are facing, including re-aligning to e-commerce, re-establishing supply chains, taking advantage of excess liquidity to drive strategic M&A, responding to new ESG demands from investors and stakeholders and responding to an evolving legal and regulatory landscape. Continue reading “The ESG debate: Balancing growth and risk”

Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?

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As the COP26 continues its doings, one of the talks of town in the legal finance world this autumn is that about sustainability. Newspapers open up with announcements about investment funds gone green, social or sustainable, about private equity firms deciding to raise new funds to exclusively invest into climate-related issues, and about companies and firms setting up new cross-border strategies aimed at complying with ESG – environmental, social and governance – objectives. Consulting firms are issuing longest-ever reports about their ESG compromises and their commitment towards UN sustainable development goals. Legal and services firms are setting up cross-industry teams aimed to cope with the various deeds the market is looking at and will request, it seems, quite immediately. And yet behind all this, how will the legal finance world be affected? Do we need to change and adapt? True to sceptics, we have been doing renewable and green deals for many years, so what is the difference?

We can split this modern ESG thinking in at least two initial settings: looking inwardly towards our firms and institutions, to see what we need to adjust internally to progress towards ESG objectives, for the people in our firms, for the society we live in and for everybody’s future. It is not so much the legal services we can provide to our clients, but rather our commitment towards our own people and the societies we live in, towards the next generations and the planet. And looking outwardly, to see how we can, or need, to adjust our legal advice to the new requirements of private equity houses, banks and other financial institutions. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?”

Guest post: COP26 heats up and global temperature pledges spur optimism

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Guest post: COP26 heats up and global temperature pledges spur optimism

As the 2021 United Nations Climate Change conference gathers momentum, Tim Baines, counsel in Mayer Brown’s environmental team, finds optimism beyond the platitudes.

Now that heads of state have left the building, the COP gets into full business mode with delegates moving between meeting rooms and many having to juggle competing demands on their time. We are only nearing the mid-point of an exhausting couple of weeks. Continue reading “Guest post: COP26 heats up and global temperature pledges spur optimism”

Guest post: Any COP? – mixed messages at UN climate summit as usual platitudes belie call for action

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Guest post: Any COP? – mixed messages at UN climate summit as usual platitudes belie call for action

As the 2021 United Nations Climate Change conference enters full swing in Glasgow, Tim Baines, counsel in Mayer Brown’s environmental team, assesses the mood on the ground.

Monday (1 November) marked the first day of COP26, also known as the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. As usual, the conference started with the ritual display of private jets congesting the airport.  For the non-VIPs, travel delays and the chilly (these are the northern latitudes, after all) wait to register, kicked off the proceedings as tradition dictates. Continue reading “Guest post: Any COP? – mixed messages at UN climate summit as usual platitudes belie call for action”

We good corporate citizens – ESG report

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We good corporate citizens – ESG report

‘There is such a sense that we need to walk the walk. More so than I’ve ever seen before. This has captured the attention of many senior management partners. People are now taking ESG and diversity and inclusion as seriously as anything else in the firm.’

The view of Doug Bryden, Travers Smith’s head of risk and operational regulatory, certainly chimes with attitudes to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) imperatives held by senior corporate lawyers interviewed for our inaugural ESG report. Continue reading “We good corporate citizens – ESG report”