ESG and Corporate Sustainability:

Global Perspectives on Regulatory Reform

Sponsored by the Dean Rusk International Law Center and the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law

Monday, October 16, 2023

Larry Walker Room, Dean Rusk Hall
University of Georgia School of Law

We live in an era marked by complex and interconnected environmental, social, and economic crises, including climate change and various forms of destabilizing inequalities. Efforts to grapple with these realities are rapidly evolving and taking shape through a host of private and public institutions, both domestically and internationally, and an array of novel reform efforts aim to curb harmful corporate practices that have contributed to such crises.

Global asset managers have increasingly prioritized “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) factors – emphasizing their relation to investment risk and investment return – and have taken up existing tools available to them through corporate law, securities regulation, and capital market structures to push for change. Meanwhile, various types of domestic regulatory reforms have been adopted, or are under consideration, in jurisdictions around the world to promote “corporate sustainability,” understood to include environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Some reform initiatives focus on disclosure, reflecting confidence that investors, consumers, and other constituencies armed with sufficient information could differentiate between sustainable and unsustainable companies, and that these private actors would effectively reward the former and punish the latter. Other reform initiatives take more direct aim at decision-making incentives of managers and investors alike, through corporate governance structures creating novel – and potentially powerful – liability regimes intended to force both domestic and multinational businesses to internalize costs that would otherwise be externalized to society and the environment. At the same time, a host of international organizations have sought to promote ESG and corporate sustainability through a range of global standard-setting and coordination efforts.

This symposium will grapple with the array of ESG and corporate sustainability initiatives taking shape today, mapping this rapidly evolving global landscape and engaging with the host of complex international and comparative legal challenges they raise. Speakers offering a diverse range of doctrinal, institutional, and jurisdictional perspectives will tackle these issues through presentations and panel discussions focusing on capital market developments, corporate governance reform initiatives, and efforts to constrain multinational businesses.

Please note the following schedule is tentative and subject to change:

9:00 Welcome Message

Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge, Dean and Talmadge Chair of Law, University of Georgia School of Law

Sarah Quinn, Interim Director, Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia

9:15 Panel 1: ESG and Sustainable Finance

George S. Georgiev, Associate Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
Virginia Harper Ho, Professor of Law, City University of Hong Kong (Zoom)
Stephen Park, Associate Professor of Business Law and Satell Fellow in Corporate Social Responsibility, University of Connecticut School of Business
Anne Tucker, Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law
Moderator: Usha Rodrigues, University Professor and M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, University of Georgia School of Law

10:30 Break

10:45 Panel 2: Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability

Matthew T. Bodie, Robins Kaplan Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Andrew Johnston, Professor of Company Law and Corporate Governance, University of Warwick School of Law (UK) (Zoom)
Lindsay Sain Jones, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia Terry College of Business
Omari Scott Simmons, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
Moderator: Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Panel 3: Multinational Corporations and Global Value Chains

Sarah Dadush, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School (Zoom)
David Hess, Professor of Business Law and Business Ethics, University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Kish Parella, Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law (Zoom)
Jaakko Salminen, Associate Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, Lund University (Sweden) (Zoom)
Moderator: Harlan G. Cohen, Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law

2:15 Break

2:30 Keynote Introduction

Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law

2:35 Keynote Address

Jill E. Fisch, Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law and Co-Director of the Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

3:15 Closing Remarks

Jack Schlafly, Editor in Chief, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law

University of Georgia Co-Sponsors include:

International Law Society

Accommodations

The University of Georgia School of Law is committed to providing reasonable access and accommodations for people with disabilities upon request. For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations, contact Chantelle Tickles at Chantelle.Tickles@uga.edu or 706-542-5167 at least three business days prior to the event.