SUSTAINABILITY = CLIMATE CHANGE + HUMAN RIGHTS
Building sustainable futures.
In modern days, the operating environment for local, national and multinational companies is more complex than ever. The impact of rising wealth inequality and the fallout from the global financial crisis poses a constant pressure on the relationship between business and society.
Being attentive and paying close scrutiny, in response, to governance standards and corporate behavior is the key aspect since the CEOs in the top notch have sparked debate about whether businesses exist to serve shareholders or a broader set of stakeholders that includes communities and employees?
Over the years we have observed that the role of business in India has become contributing, and responding, to some major global issues such as climate change. Climate change concerns have posed immense pressure on corporate, for example to keep a check on their carbon emission, and has also brought environmental performance into sharp focus. Companies are being sued over their historic emissions, while investors are demanding greater transparency on climate-related risk. Businesses are also under pressure to dispose of high-carbon assets as regulations evolve, and consumers and investors shift away from those that promote unsustainable practices.
We are acutely aware of the challenges this dynamic presents our clients at the sharp end of this increasingly complex environment.
By drawing on our experience across practices and jurisdictions, we provide strategic legal advice to support clients transition towards a more sustainable and profitable future.
We help them seize the opportunities and manage the risks of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, handling everything from advanced due diligence around corporate transactions to some of the highest-profile climate change-related lawsuits in the world.
Our sustainability practice is built around four key client challenges:
Climate Change
Mitigating risk, seizing opportunity.
Climate change raises a range of risks and opportunities for business.
Some of the immediate downsides are obvious, such as the increasing frequency of extreme weather events that can damage infrastructure and constrain economic growth. At the same time, policy and market levers are combining to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy – a process that must be carefully controlled to ensure meaningful progress while avoiding an economic shock.
There is also the rising threat of litigation as corporates are targeted by claimants demanding compensation for historic emissions and greater transparency on climate-related risk. Similar goals are being pursued by long-term investors, who are seeking more robust data on which to base their decisions and pressuring companies to de-carbonise their portfolios.
In a world where geopolitical relations are increasingly fragmented and progress towards the goals of the Paris climate agreement remains elusive, global companies will play a vital role in the fight against climate change.
There is huge demand for sustainable infrastructure to aid the energy transition, while technological innovation offers massive potential to reduce emissions. Businesses that take the lead will open up new markets and build consumer trust, secure new sources of investment and attract the brightest talent.
Our work in relation to climate change includes representing clients on emissions-related disputes along with investor-state arbitrations linked to regulatory change. We also advise clients on ESG-linked investor relations, cross-border acquisitions and green bonds designed to finance renewable energy projects around the world.
Human rights
Beyond compliance.
With human rights increasingly crystallising into ‘hard law’, businesses need to evaluate their performance as a key legal and strategic concern.
With the upcoming reforms in the labor laws in the form of proposed Code on Wages, Code of Social Security, the Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, etc., it is all evidence of how human rights are entering into statute around the world.
Human rights issues are rising up the agenda, too, in the context of corporate transactions where they are now a vital element of M&A due diligence.
Many companies seek to go beyond their strict legal duties by adopting the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – also known as the ‘Ruggie Principles’. Using the principles to scope and address human rights issues can help businesses assess and mitigate risk in a proportionate and iterative fashion, which in turn protects their reputation and preserves corporate value.
We participated in the research that led to the development of the Guiding Principles, and we have built a dedicated global business and human rights practice to advise our clients on the issues that flow from them.
We help our clients respect international human rights and comply with their legal obligations, while also advising on a range of related operational issues. See below for some recent examples5
Corporate governance
Building strong and transparent cultures.
In a world of greater co-operation between regulators, unanticipated cyber dangers, increasingly litigious employees and customers, and more rules on disclosing companies’ sustainability record, corporate reputations are under threat like never before.
We advise clients on a range of corporate governance challenges, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure requirements from investors and regulators.
We are also helping listed companies and financial services businesses match the priority given to corporate governance by regulators, and articulate what their desired culture is, how they are promoting that culture and how success is measured.
Stricter rules mean large private companies will need to define, assess and strengthen their corporate culture too.
As shareholders become more activist, and as ESG issues become integrated into mainstream investing, the pressure to change business models and provide sufficient disclosure will continue to increase.
R E S U L T S
DELIVERED