March 17, 2023
The Evolving ESG Landscape in the States
If you had come from the future and told me a couple years ago that ISS would be releasing voting guidelines that stripped out its carefully crafted approach to a wide array of ESG proposals, I would not have believed you. But such is the world that we live in today. As this Simpson Thacher alert notes, state legislatures have been extremely active in all manner of ESG-related lawmaking, ranging from anti-ESG measures to ESG-neutral measures to even pro-ESG measures.
Earlier this year, John recounted the progress of some of the anti-ESG efforts, as well as the cracks that were beginning to appear in the anti-ESG movement. The Simpson Thacher alert notes how efforts to push back on anti-ESG measures have been successful in some cases, but the wave of legislation seems to continue pushing forward in other jurisdictions. It appears that the intensity of both the anti-ESG efforts and the pro-ESG efforts will only ramp up as we enter the 2024 Presidential election cycle, as ESG will undoubtedly be a key differentiator in the parties’ platforms.
– Dave Lynn