Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly considered as core business priorities for companies, boards and investors, with ESG representing an area of significant opportunity for many. Navigating the broad range of topics that fall under ESG, including regulatory developments, political impacts and stakeholder sentiment, requires multidisciplinary and global expertise from experienced practitioners.

Featuring cross-jurisdictional insight, this important title covers a range of ESG topics in depth, containing contributions from leading legal professionals, industry experts and consultants. The book firstly discusses ‘what is ESG?’ before covering areas including supply chain topics, financial regulatory impacts, ESG disclosure obligations, M&A and private equity, among many other important subjects. Further, the book contains regional specific insights from practitioners on the ground and includes analysis on the diverse themes which underpin the current and future direction of ESG. Specific chapters are also dedicated to the emerging matters of ESG litigation, the evolving nature of technology in ESG, and the incorporation of ESG into enterprise risk management. The final part of the book looks at broader trends and developments in the area.

Despite the large volume of information already available, this is one of the first publications to draw together the various strands of ESG into one book and provides a valuable source of information in this fast-evolving area. It will make important reading for all legal and other advisers and professionals with an interest in furthering their ESG knowledge.

A thought-provoking book on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.

OEUK Magazine

Mariana Abreu
Global lead, human rights, Anthesis Group
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianacastroabreu/

Mariana Abreu is a human rights lawyer with over 12 years of experience working on human rights and social impact. Prior to her work as a consultant, Mariana led field and desk-based investigations into human rights in Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa at Amnesty International and Global Witness. Mariana leads an international team of human rights experts who support leading investors and businesses on human rights due diligence, designing and implementing risk and impact assessments, and advising on best practices globally. Major projects she has worked on include managing a year-long human rights impact assessment in the chemical sector across Brazil, the United States, Mexico and Germany; overseeing training of over 200 suppliers in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia; and supervising human rights risk assessments across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey for a tech client. Mariana was individually ranked as a top ESG adviser by Chambers & Partners, being described as having a “very strong sense of responsibility” and “an excellent manager, leader and consultant”. Mariana holds an MA in Human Rights from the Paris School of International Affairs – Sciences Po, and a BA in Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo. She is admitted to practice law in Brazil.

Andrew Angle
Research and networks manager, ERM Sustainability Institute
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-angle/

Andrew Angle is a managing consultant with the ERM Sustainability Institute. Based in Washington DC, he authors reports, briefings and blogs designed to provide business leaders with actionable insights and a deeper understanding of the rapidly evolving sustainability landscape. He has produced numerous works, including the Institute’s “Annual Trends Report” and “Quarterly Trends Report”, “Renewables Conundrums” report series and The Decarbonization Imperative: An Executive Primer. In addition to his thought leadership work, Andrew provides corporate sustainability consulting services for clients across numerous industries and geographies. He holds a master’s degree in Climate and Society from the Climate School at Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Physical Geography from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University.

Desi Baca
Senior associate, Vinson & Elkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/desi-baca-6a914751/

Desi Baca’s principal areas of practice are corporate and securities law, including securities offerings, general corporate representation, private equity and mergers and acquisitions. As a senior member of Vinson & Elkins’ shareholder activism practice, she has significant experience representing clients, including in more than 75 activism campaigns over the past seven years. Desi routinely advises public companies in competitive proxy solicitations, withhold campaigns, merger contests, consent solicitations, settlement negotiations, hostile takeover and other unsolicited bids, strategic investor relations, and corporate governance. In 2023, Desi was recognised by The Legal 500 US in the “Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards” category.

Helene R Banks
Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helene-banks-474023a1/

Helene R Banks is chair of Cahill’s M&A and corporate advisory practice group and a thought leader in the increasingly complex ESG arena. Helene advises publicly held and private companies in significant corporate and securities matters, with particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and capital markets transactions. Her work ranges from managing complex international transactions for large public companies to guiding owners through investments in their privately held businesses to advising companies as they progress on their ESG journeys.
Helene is recognised as a leading M&A and Corporate Governance lawyer by The Legal 500 and in 2023 was recognised as a Notable Leader in Sustainability by Crain’s New York Business. Helene frequently speaks and writes on ESG, M&A, corporate governance and board diversity issues. She has been published in Practical Law, NACD BoardTalk, NACD Directorship, Law360, The Deal, New York Law Journal and Corporate Secretary and has spoken on these topics at numerous industry events.

Ian Barclay
Board member, Anthesis Group
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibarclay/

Ian Barclay is a board member of Anthesis and a co-founder of Wallbrook, a global ESG advisory firm that merged with Anthesis in 2023. He previously worked as executive managing director at Stroz Friedberg and Aon from 2013 to 2018 and was part of the management team that oversaw the acquisition and integration of the cyber risk manager Stroz Friedberg by Aon Plc in 2016. Ian was previously a director of Billiter, a leading due diligence and investigations firm which was acquired by Stroz Friedberg in 2013. While at Billiter, Ian oversaw the establishment of the firm’s London and Hong Kong offices. Ian started his career at UBS and has degrees from Queen Mary College and the University of Cambridge.

Rachel Barrett
Partner, Linklaters
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-barrett-58003720/

Rachel Barrett leads the Linklaters global ESG practice. She has deep expertise and exceptional breadth of experience advising on existing and incoming ESG regulation and soft law standards, ESG strategy and disclosures, sustainable finance products and frameworks, ESG governance and risk management and on stakeholder activism, litigation risk and crisis management. Rachel has been recognised in the Fifty Most Influential in Sustainable Finance 2023 list by Financial News, as the go-to adviser on ESG matters by The Lawyer Hot 100 list as well as “Next Generation Partner” in the Environment and Corporate Governance category by The Legal 500. She was previously a member of the UK Government’s Green Technical Advisory Group.

Gregory J Battista
Counsel, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-battista-12372a12/

Gregory J Battista leads Cahill’s environmental practice group. Greg advises clients on environmental/ESG matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, and debt and equity offerings. Greg has over 35 years of experience handling environmental matters, including risk analysis, federal and state compliance, remediation and corporate transactions. He regularly advises clients in a variety of areas including: EHS compliance and litigation matters; site investigation and clean-up; SEC disclosure; sustainability strategy and reporting; climate change regulation; government enforcement and administrative proceedings; OSHA matters; auditing; supply chain and ESG risk; real estate development projects and due diligence with respect to financing; and M&A and other corporate matters. Greg has been recognised as a leading environmental lawyer by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, International Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers, Lawdragon Green 500 and Euromoney’s Expert Guides.

James Bee
Associate, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bee-69bb8348/

James Bee is an associate in the ESG practice of Latham & Watkins’ London office. James primarily advises clients on ESG, environmental, health and safety and energy matters, across a range of transactional, regulatory and contentious issues.

Daniela Bergs
Director, Howden
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielabergs/

Daniela Bergs is a director at Howden M&A. Prior to joining she worked as a senior environmental insurance underwriter at Liberty Mutual Insurance in New York. Together with the environmental team, her focus is finding insurance solutions for complex environmental liability structures for both real estate and operational transactions. Her focus extends to ensuring environmental compliance across multiple jurisdictions, aiding companies in mitigating nature-related risks and advancing sustainability initiatives. Daniela holds a master’s degree in Business Marketing from the Freie Universität Berlin.

Milenko Bertrand-Galindo
Partner, Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/milenko-bertrand-galindo-b780154b/

Milenko Bertrand-Galindo is the head of the international law and ESG departments at Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet. Milenko holds a law degree from Universidad Católica, an LLM from Harvard Law School and an SJD from the Washington College of Law. He specialises in international law, ESG compliance and finance, corporate compliance, indigenous law, community relations and human rights.
He has been part of Chile’s legal team before The Hague International Court of Justice, and a member of the Interamerican Judicial Committee of the Organization of American States. He has been legal adviser for the Presidency, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice and the National Human Rights Institute in Chile. Milenko has been recognised as a “Leading Lawyer in ESG” by Leading Lawyers in 2021 and is the author of the Chilean chapter for The Legal 500’s Country Comparative Guide on ESG, among other several publications in the field.

Aiste Brackley
Partner, ERM Sustainability Institute
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aiste-brackley-9110001a/

Aiste Brackley is a partner at ERM and director at the ERM Sustainability Institute. She leads advisory projects on corporate sustainability and climate change strategy with a focus on energy, pharma and technology sectors. Aiste also oversees research projects at the Sustainability Institute and manages the production of research briefs, surveys and insights articles. Most of Aiste’s research has focused on climate change, sustainability strategy and natural climate solutions, and she has been the lead author of many of the Institute’s flagship publications. Aiste frequently appears as a speaker at webinars and conferences and has been published in GreenBiz, The Guardian, Huffington Post and other publications. She has taught at Vilnius University and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining ERM, Aiste spent more than 15 years working at the intersection of private, non-profit and public sectors in the US, UK, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden and Russia.

Amandine Bressand
Manager, business and human rights, ISEAL
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandine-bressand/

Amandine Bressand is the business and human rights manager at ISEAL, the global membership organisation for ambitious and transparent sustainability systems. Amandine oversees ISEAL’s work on human rights and decent work. She also manages projects advancing equity and producer empowerment in global supply chains.
Amandine’s human rights expertise stems from her work in the advocacy, humanitarian and ESG consultancy sectors. Her thematic focuses have included forced labour, human trafficking and poor working conditions. She was previously senior associate at Wallbrook (Anthesis Group) where she helped businesses address human rights risks in their value chains. Before that, Amandine was chief of staff at Battery Associates, a company advancing sustainable battery innovation. She also worked with iNGOs like International Crisis Group and the International Federation for Human Rights.
Amandine holds an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS University of London, and a BA in Political Science and Human Rights from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York. She has lived in Syria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Vietnam, France, the US, and the UK where she is based.

Dearbhla Cantwell
Managing associate, Linklaters
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dearbhla-cantwell-a14b3673/

Dearbhla Cantwell is a managing associate in the Linklaters ESG practice, where she advises clients on a wide range of environment, social and governance matters. In particular, she advises on the ESG aspects of complex international corporate transactions across multiple sectors, including in relation to the UK contaminated land, environmental permitting and operational health and safety regimes. Dearbhla also advises on various sustainability-related regulatory reporting regimes, including TCFD, CSRD and UK SECR. She also has experience advising clients on a variety of innovative voluntary carbon market transactions and on the development of carbon insetting and offsetting projects, including in relation to blue carbon.

Christine Covington
Partner, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-covington/

Christine Covington has over 38 years’ experience as a specialist environment and planning lawyer and member of Corrs’ responsible business practice group. She advises public and private sector clients across energy and resources, education, real estate, state and local government and retail sectors. For some of Australia’s largest institutional real estate investment trusts, including the Stockland, Mirvac and Frasers Property Group, Christine advises on a range of environmental issues including environmental impact assessment, planning and environmental litigation.
Australia’s energy transition has been a recent focus, including energy transmission client Transgrid and generator AGL Energy. ESG is a key area of practice across a range of public and private sector clients together with advice on biodiversity conservation agreements, credit transfers and climate-related reporting obligations. Christine is a former board member of the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority and is currently the deputy chair of the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Trust.

Paul Davies
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-davies-17506317/

Paul Davies is global co-chair of Latham’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice and a member of Latham & Watkins’ sustainability committee. He advises clients on a broad range of ESG issues involving contentious, regulatory and transactional matters. He is recognised as a “world-leading ESG lawyer” (Chambers UK 2022). He is also acknowledged for his innovative approach, twice being named among Europe’s Top Innovative Individuals (FT Innovative Lawyers Report). For his long-term contribution to ESG, Paul was acknowledged with a lifetime achievement award with recognition as “a truly exceptional individual” (The Legal 500 2024).

Lawrence Elbaum
Partner and co-head of the shareholder activism practice, Vinson & Elkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-elbaum-1944852/

Lawrence Elbaum is the co-head of Vinson & Elkins’ shareholder activism practice and a member of the firm’s management committee. He leverages nearly two decades of experience as a securities attorney and business adviser to counsel senior management and boards of public companies with respect to proxy fights, merger contests, consent solicitations, “Withhold the Vote” or “Vote No” campaigns, precatory proposals and short attacks, as well as an array of complex corporate governance matters. Over the past 10 proxy seasons, Lawrence has led over 300 activism defence engagements for public companies of all sizes and across all industries. He regularly defends clients against high-profile shareholder activists such as Starboard Value, Elliott Management, Carl Icahn, Engaged Capital, Jana Partners, Value Act Legion Partners, Corvex Management and D.E. Shaw & Co. Throughout Lawrence’s leadership of the shareholder activism practice, the team has been ranked the top firm for shareholder activism defence for company and board representation by Bloomberg, Refinitiv, Activist Insight and FactSet. Chambers USA 2021–2023 lists Lawrence as a leading practitioner in its category for “Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense (New York)” and The Legal 500 US ranked the shareholder activism practice among the top law firms from 2019–2023 in the “Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards” category.

Paula Errázuriz Sotta
Associate, Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-err%C3%A1zuriz-sotta/

Paula Errázuriz Sotta is an associate lawyer at Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet and holds a law degree from Universidad Católica. Paula has concentrated her practice in the areas of ESG, communities and corporate compliance. At Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet she has advised multiple clients in the development and review of ESG policies, the preparation of collaboration agreements with indigenous communities and the accompaniment of resettlement processes, among others.

Sarah E Fortt
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-fortt-4679b5b0/

Sarah E Fortt, global co-chair of Latham’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice, is the mind behind one of the first ESG legal practices in the United States. In her role, she acts as a trusted adviser of her clients, navigating with them risks and opportunities relating to climate change, human rights and corporate culture. Sarah advises public and private companies and their boards on corporate governance and strategic transparency. She also counsels clients in high-stakes governance situations, including public and political ESGrelated campaigns, stakeholder engagement and corporate crises.
Sarah draws on her background in corporate governance, compliance, securities, executive compensation and sophisticated understanding of cross-organisational structures to help clients create consistent, effective and meaningful ESG strategies and communications.

Jonathan Friedman
Global lead, client strategy and solutions: ESG advisory, Anthesis Group
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-friedman-49b55a13/

Jonathan Friedman leads global client engagement for the ESG advisory business line at Anthesis, the Carlyle Group-backed sustainability consultancy. He previously co-founded Wallbrook, an international ESG due diligence and human rights consultancy, which was sold to Anthesis in 2023. Before entering consultancy, he worked on Capitol Hill.
Jonathan’s analysis and forecasts of global developments have been widely featured in broadcast and print media, including the BBC, Bloomberg, the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in Comparative Politics (States and Markets) from the London School of Economics.

Patrick Gadson
Partner and co-head of the shareholder activism practice, Vinson & Elkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-gadson-b102aa5b/

Patrick Gadson’s principal areas of practice are private equity, mergers and acquisitions and shareholder activism. Patrick is co-head of Vinson & Elkins’ shareholder activism practice, which advises public companies in competitive proxy solicitations, strategic investor relations and corporate governance. He also counsels senior management, boards of directors, investment managers and both private equity and strategic investors in a wide variety of complex business transactions, corporate governance matters, strategic investor relations and other special situations. His experience includes advising clients in connection with shareholder activism related investments, hostile takeovers, public and private M&A transactions, strategic minority investments and corporate capital investments. Prior to joining Vinson & Elkins, Patrick practised law at a leading shareholder activism law firm and a preeminent corporate law firm in New York City. From 2021–2023 Patrick was featured on Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” list. From 2021–2023, Patrick was recognised as “Next Generation Partner” by The Legal 500 US in the Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards category and ranked “Up and Coming” by Chambers USA in the Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense (New York) category. He has also been recognised on Thomson Reuters’ “Super Lawyers” rising star list for 2022.

Kate Gill-Herdman
Special counsel, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-gill-herdman-a5121360/

Kate Gill-Herdman is an experienced legal practitioner in Corrs’ responsible business and ESG practice group who specialises in contentious and non-contentious responsible business and ESG matters. She advises financial institutions, other corporate and public sector clients on a range of complex and sensitive issues including supply chain investigations, greenwashing allegations, human rights risk management frameworks and responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Kate has also acted in many of Australia’s significant public inquiries, including the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence, the Victorian Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry, the Victorian Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants and the Financial Services Royal Commission. She is a member of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia and leads Corrs’ membership of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute.

Cornelia Gomez
Global head of sustainability, General Atlantic
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cornelia-gomez/

Cornelia Gomez is the global head of sustainability at General Atlantic. In her role, Cornelia oversees the firm’s sustainability strategy and efforts to advance ESG policies, procedures and value-creation initiatives for its global operations, asset classes and across its portfolio. Before joining GA, Cornelia was head of ESG and sustainability at PAI Partners, and she also served as the global coordinator for the International Climate Initiative, an industry group that is sponsored by the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment. Previously, Cornelia led the supply chain sustainability work at Casino Group.

Patrick Gordon
Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
[email protected]
https://www.cahill.com/professionals/patrick-gordon

Patrick Gordon represents leading investment banking firms, direct lenders, private credit funds and other institutional investors in a broad range of corporate financing transactions. He has extensive experience representing the financing sources in privately placed and syndicated secured term loan financings, secured and unsecured bridge loan and debt securities financings, and public and private equity and equity-linked issuances. Pat specialises in financings supporting leveraged buyouts and acquisition financings across a wide variety of industries, including telecommunications and media, entertainment, healthcare, financial services, retail and food services, gaming and industrials. Pat also represented the financing sources in the recent ground-breaking sustainability-linked loans supporting the acquisition of Novolex by Apollo Global Management, which were the first sustainability-linked loans placed in connection with the financing of a leveraged buyout.

Michael D Green
Counsel, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-green-22870827/

Michael D Green is a counsel and member of Latham’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice and environment, land and resources practice. He advises clients on a range of ESG and environmental, health and safety matters in the context of transactional work, the management of risks and opportunities and litigation matters. Michael is consistently recognised by Chambers UK and clients say that “Michael is an incredibly able and consistently very focused lawyer” who “brings attention to detail and real intellectual rigour to the process”, with another noting “I trust his judgement hugely”. Michael is named a Recommended Global Leader for Environment by Who’s Who Legal 2019. He is also described by clients as their “go-to lawyer” who stands out for his “excellent practical advice” and “impeccable level of service”.

Vanessa Havard-Williams
Consultant, Linklaters
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-havard-williams-45873aa/

Vanessa Havard-Williams is a consultant at Linklaters, focusing on ESG and sustainability. She was previously the head of the firm’s global environmental and climate change practice, founded the firm’s ESG practice and co-headed the risk and resilience and crisis management teams.
She advises financial institutions, corporates and funds around the world across the spectrum of emerging ESG requirements. She is currently leading the UK Government’s Transition Finance Market Review and is part of the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce. She is also a board member of UK Export Finance and chair of the UK Export Guarantee Advisory Group.

Nicola Higgs
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-higgs-a3a064b0/

Nicola Higgs is a partner in the London office of Latham & Watkins and global co-chair of the firm’s financial institutions industry group. Nicola specialises in offering ESG regulatory advice across the financial services ecosystem. Nicola advises public companies, global investment banks, institutional investors and ESG index and data services providers on a variety of ESG legal and regulatory risk management matters, with particular expertise in the anti-greenwashing expectations of securities laws regulators.

Betty M Huber
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/betty-m-huber/

Betty M Huber, global co-chair of Latham’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice, shapes business-critical corporate sustainability initiatives, policy and reporting for leading companies, funds and their boards. Betty also advises on sustainable finance products, M&A transactions and capital markets offerings. She provides pragmatic, commercial guidance across a broad spectrum of industries and market caps, driving value through strategy, oversight, reporting and other programmes while carefully addressing, managing and mitigating risk. Betty draws on over twenty-five years of experience providing a sophisticated understanding of her clients’ businesses to meet their emerging demands in today’s rapidly evolving regulatory climate.

Robin M Hulshizer
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-hulshizer-a794818/

Robin M Hulshizer is a US-based trial lawyer practising out of Chicago, Illinois with more than 25 years of experience litigating complex commercial and environmental matters. She is a member of Latham & Watkins’ complex commercial litigation and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, focusing on environmental litigation, greenwashing claims, environmental justice-based claims and general regulatory compliance. Her experience is multidisciplinary, including toxic torts, product liability, consumer fraud, business contract, insurance coverage, class actions and securities litigation.
She has represented clients across various sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas, consumer products, energy and industrial hygiene. In the environmental arena, Robin’s experience has spanned every major US environmental statute and includes not only litigation but compliance strategies, regulatory work, investigation/ enforcement actions and ESG/environmental counselling in connection with large-scale financial and corporate transactions.

Thomas Kelly
Senior associate, Howden
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kelly-6b3a0a129/

Thomas Kelly is a senior associate in the climate, risk and resilience team at Howden. Thomas’s main focus within the climate, risk and resilience team is on the intersection between the insurance and the carbon markets. He recently completed a dissertation at Advanced Chartered Insurance Institute level on how the collaboration between the humanitarian and insurance sector can help increase the resilience of vulnerable communities around the world. Before joining the climate team, Thomas worked in the M&A, reinsurance and financial lines teams at Howden. During this time, Thomas completed a secondment to the Department for International Trade where he worked in the insurance and climate resilience team, helping to build its resilience campaign and engagement with the insurance sector. Thomas has a BA honours degree in History from the University of Bristol and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Edward Kempson
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-kempson-7ba42328/

Edward Kempson is an English law-qualified partner based in the Riyadh office of Latham & Watkins. Edward is the global coordinator of the firm’s sustainable finance practice. He has considerable experience advising clients on a wide variety of debt and equity capital markets transactions and ESG, sustainable finance and corporate related matters.

Ruth Knox
Partner, Paul Hastings
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-knox-0348002a/

Ruth Knox is a partner and global co-chair of the ESG and sustainable finance practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s London office. Ruth advises some of the world’s most sophisticated private equity firms, corporations and project sponsors and lenders on complex and evolving legal issues relating to ESG and climaterelated regulatory requirements, investor demands, strategic opportunities (including transition strategies), and voluntary reporting frameworks and coalitions.
Ruth has spent more than a decade advising on ESG regulations and soft law standards, including the EU Sustainable Finance package, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) standard.
Ruth provides commercial, solutions-oriented advice in sustainable fund formation, large-scale international M&A, sustainable finance transactions and ESG-related corporate crises, as well as climate and nature-based finance. She also advises on a wide range of product regulatory regimes across different sectors.

Sophie Lamb KC
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-lamb-kc-04770289/

Sophie Lamb KC is an accomplished advocate who draws on an exceptionally diverse international case load and more than 20 years of international tribunal and trial experience including in the UK Supreme Court. Her experience extends across the full range of significant corporate and commercial arrangements, international investment law, public law and climate litigation. Leveraging strong expertise in class action litigation targeting multinational groups, Sophie is increasingly engaged on sensitive and strategic mandates which engage the ESG agenda, covering such issues as directors’ duties, reporting risks, climate change and public interest litigation, global supply chain integrity, human rights-related exposure and OECD National Contact Point processes. She also counsels more generally on navigating the risks and opportunities arising from heightened focus on ESG, net zero ambitions and corporate purpose.

Mark Lee
Global director, ERM Sustainability Institute
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpeterlee/

Mark Lee is the global director of the ERM Sustainability Institute and an ERM partner. His work helps companies make better and fast progress on sustainable development. Mark has over 25 years’ experience in leadership positions in the sustainability field and is an expert in sustainability strategy and implementation. He is the co-author of All In: The Future of Business Leadership (Routledge, 2018) and The Sustainable Business Handbook (Kogan Page, 2022). Mark was previously the executive director of SustainAbility, vice president at Business for Social Responsibility, and manager, CSR at Vancity Savings. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, an alumnus of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and he completed the Berkeley Executive Program at the Center for Executive Leadership at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Carmen XW Lu
Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenxwlu/

Carmen XW Lu is counsel in Wachtell Lipton’s corporate department where she advises companies and boards of directors across industries on corporate governance, shareholder activism and ESG matters, evolving market and regulatory trends and practices, and effective stakeholder engagement.
Carmen advises companies and boards of directors on a range of governance issues, including: governance structure, policies and practices; board fiduciary duties and oversight responsibilities, including with respect to ESG matters; shareholder, proxy adviser and stakeholder engagement; shareholder activism and proxy contests; shareholder proposals; identification and evaluation of ESG risks and opportunities; board and committee composition, structure and evaluations; evolving market, industry and stakeholder expectations; and compliance with legislative, regulatory and list rule requirements.
Carmen received her JD from Yale Law School in 2016, where she was articles and essays editor of the Yale Law Journal and executive editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

Anne Mainwaring
Counsel, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-mainwaring/

Anne Mainwaring is counsel in Latham’s financial regulatory practice in London. She has extensive experience advising clients on UK and EU regulatory developments relevant to ESG matters, including advising clients in relation to compliance with ongoing ESG regulatory developments across multiple regulatory regimes.

Meghan McDermott
Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-mcdermott-6465a5316/

Meghan McDermott represents leading investment banking firms and commercial banks in a brand range of financing transactions involving syndicated institutional loans, leveraged buyouts, secured and unsecured debt securities and equity securities, including initial public offerings and follow-on equity offerings. Meghan has experience practising in a variety of industries, including telecommunications and media, entertainment, healthcare, financial services, retail and food services, gaming and industrials. Meghan has also represented the financing sources in the sustainability-linked senior notes offering by Covert Mergeco, Inc that was used to fund the acquisition by EQT Infrastructure V fund of Covanta Holding Corporation.
In 2024, Meghan was shortlisted for the Women in Business Law Awards Americas, Debt Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year. Meghan was also recognised as a Rising Star Partner by IFLR1000, a 2022 Rising Star in the area of Capital Markets by Law360, and a Rising Star in Equity Capital Markets as a part of IFLR’s Rising Stars Awards 2022 Americas.

Stuart McLachlan
Chief executive officer, Anthesis Group
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-mclachlan-73a03120/

Stuart McLachlan is co-founder and CEO of Anthesis Group, which started trading in 2013 and has grown to over 1,000 people across several continents, with a client portfolio that includes many FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Since commencement, the company has acquired 15 sustainability firms and in 2021 they entered a partnership with private equity firm, Palatine. Anthesis has featured on numerous occasions in the FastTrack100 and the FT1000 as one of the fastest growing private companies in the UK and Europe.
Prior to Anthesis, Stuart spent 16 years developing the WSP Environment and Energy business, building it from a start up in WSP Group PLC to one of the leading global consultancies in the sector. For six years from 2006 to the merger with GENIVAR, Stuart also served as a PLC director on the board of WSP Group, a FTSE 250 company. In addition to his focus on business leadership, he has a passion for sustainable development and is a speaker on market trends and the relationship between sustainable futures and business success. In 2019, Stuart featured as the LDC “One to Watch” and in 2021 was listed in the Top 32 ESG pioneers by Business Leader magazine.

Glenn O’Halloran
Executive director, Howden
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-o-halloran-82313423/

Glenn O’Halloran has over 10 years’ experience in the environmental liability insurance market, most recently developing and leading the environmental team within Howden’s M&A practice. Prior to joining Howden, he led the environmental liability team within a global insurer, after a career working on remote mining and construction projects across Australia as an environmental engineer. Glenn holds an honours degree in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree. Within the climate risk and resilience team, Glenn focuses on developing risk transaction products in order to support clients through the energy transition and with acquisitions made in the carbon markets.

Chidi Onyeche
Associate, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chidi-onyeche/

Chidi Onyeche is an associate in the project development and finance practice of Latham & Watkins’ London office and is a member of the firm’s Africa practice. Chidi advises financial institutions, multilateral organisations, governments and project sponsors on a wide range of financing transactions in the ESG and sustainable finance space.

Bernardita Salvatierra Riquelme
Associate, Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsalvatierrar/

Bernardita Salvatierra Riquelme holds a law degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a postgraduate diploma in natural resources and sustainable development from Universidad de Chile. Bernardita focuses her professional practice on ESG, indigenous law, communities, sustainability, mining, energy and natural resources. Bernardita works as an associate lawyer at Bertrand-Galindo Barrueto Barroilhet, where she has advised a wide range of local and foreign clients from various economic sectors, mainly energy and mining, in the development of their projects in Chile, from an ESG perspective.

Reena SenGupta
Executive director, RSGI Limited
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reena-sengupta-0719bb4/

Reena SenGupta is a leading thought leader in the global legal profession, with a 30-year track record of innovation. From creating the Chambers & Partners research, ranking and editorial methodology and approach in the mid-1990s to the FT Innovative Lawyers programme in the midnoughties,
Reena has designed and authored leading studies and assessments on how lawyers are evolving to remain relevant. Her company RSGI Limited, the global legal think tank, consults to top law firms and in-house legal teams as well as legal technology companies and alternative legal service providers on strategy, innovation and sustainable growth. Its latest rating system, the RSGI Greenprint, assesses the responsible business reporting and policies of 180 international law firms.

Farhana Sharmeen
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhana-sharmeen-28a40331/

Farhana Sharmeen is co-deputy Asia managing partner in the corporate department of Latham & Watkins’ Singapore office and heads the firm’s Singapore law practice. Farhana primarily handles corporate and finance transactions. She also advises on general corporate matters, including regulatory compliance and corporate governance issues. Farhana has particular experience representing clients in real estate, financial institutions and the luxury goods industry. Farhana is recognised as a leading lawyer for corporate M&A in Singapore by Chambers Asia- Pacific, which highlights her “active public takeovers practice with expertise regarding fund formation and regulatory work”. In addition, she is noted by Best Lawyers in Singapore for her work in corporate law. She is the chair of the ESG Asia Working Group at Latham & Watkins and has experience with a range of clients across Asia advising on a number of ESG issues.

Kathleen Teo
Trainee solicitor, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-teo/

Kathleen Teo is a trainee solicitor in the London office of Latham & Watkins. Kathleen has assisted in advising financial institutions, multilateral organisations, major international energy companies, governments and project sponsors on a wide range of financing transactions.

Elina Tetelbaum
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elinatetelbaum/

Elina Tetelbaum is a corporate partner at Wachtell Lipton, where she leads the firm’s efforts on shareholder activism defence and proxy fights. Elina also frequently counsels, lectures and publishes on corporate governance, shareholder activism and M&A. Elina has been named a Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer, was recognised as one of The Deal’s Top Women in Dealmaking and a Law360 Rising Star for M&A, among other honours. Elina is the president of the Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association, an advisory board member of the John L Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware and a board member of the Yale Law School Center for the Study of Corporate Law. She received an AB magna cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and completed a JD from Yale Law School.

Gary Whitehead
Associate, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/whiteheadgary/

Gary Whitehead is an associate in the London office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the global financial institutions industry group. Gary advises on a range of financial services regulation and has experience advising a wide range of financial institutions in relation to their regulatory compliance.

Kristina Wyatt
Deputy general counsel and chief sustainability officer, Persefoni
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-wyatt-629033134/

Kristina Wyatt is Persefoni’s deputy general counsel and chief sustainability officer. She joined Persefoni from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where she was senior counsel to the director of the division of corporation finance, focused on climate and ESG. Before joining the SEC, Kristina was director of sustainability at Latham & Watkins. Kristina holds a BA from Duke University, a JD from the University of Colorado and an MBA in Sustainability from Yale University.

Sabrina Zhang
Associate, corporate department, Paul Hastings
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhangsabrina16/

Sabrina Zhang is an associate in the investment funds and private capital practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on private investment funds. Sabrina has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Davis and a JD from Harvard Law School.

David J Ziyambi
Partner, Latham & Watkins
[email protected]
https://www.lw.com/en/people/david-ziyambi

David J Ziyambi is a member of Latham & Watkins’ finance department and the vice chair of the firm’s Africa practice. His practice focuses primarily on project, structured and leveraged financing in the energy and infrastructure sectors within both mature and developing markets, particularly throughout Africa. He represents sponsors, lenders and governments on a range of matters, from project development and project finance deals to structured financing, prepayments and reserve-based lending.