Lawrence recently published a blog about the importance of leaving materiality determinations up to the legal department and disclosure committees. But flipping that coin – what can legal learn from sustainability and prevent them from being seen as The Department of “No”?
In the Reuters Responsible Business 2024 panel Understanding the Vital Role of The General Counsel in Driving Forward Responsible Business, GCs from Coca Cola and Ely Lilly joined E. Leigh Dance, Founder of Global Counsel Leaders. The group recognized the importance of legal’s core functions in ESG including enterprise risk management, compliance with new regulations, and policy advocacy. However, they also pointed out that legal cannot accomplish all of this on their own.
Each speaker emphasized the importance of legal working with others – particularly sustainability functions – to fill knowledge gaps and provide context. As legal sets out to tackle these complicated, multidisciplinary issues, working alongside sustainability is key. Lawyers are generally a smart bunch, but even we have to recognize that our knowledge has limits and that sustainability is a great partner to help address those limits. As Anat Hakim GC of Eli Lilly said, “you have to learn what you need to learn.” Lawyers don’t need to be sustainability professionals, but we do need to lean on sustainability to solve problems in a way that supports the business, not impedes it.
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