The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:32:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png ESG & The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 ESG & The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/10/28/esg-the-2020-u-s-presidential-election/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=esg-the-2020-u-s-presidential-election https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/10/28/esg-the-2020-u-s-presidential-election/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2020 13:01:52 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=133938?d=20201028100716EDT Posted by Heidi DuBois, Alex Heath, and Jill Fisher, Edelman, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Editor's Note:

Heidi DuBois is Executive Vice President of ESG, Alex Heath is Executive Vice President of Purpose, and Jill Fisher is Senior Account Supervisor of Reputation at Edelman. This post is based on their Edelman memorandum. Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance includes The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance by Lucian A. Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); For Whom Corporate Leaders Bargain by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Kobi Kastiel, and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); Socially Responsible Firms by Alan Ferrell, Hao Liang, and Luc Renneboog (discussed on the Forum here); Companies Should Maximize Shareholder Welfare Not Market Value by Oliver Hart and Luigi Zingales (discussed on the Forum here); and Toward Fair and Sustainable Capitalism by Leo E. Strine, Jr (discussed on the Forum here).

How we got here.

For years, the investment community has been increasingly focused on the impact that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, like environmental stewardship, labor practices and anti-corruption can have on a company’s ability to generate long-term value.

In 2016, the United Nations introduced its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—goals for the long-term interest of society, guiding both mandatory and voluntary disclosure requirements for business leaders and corporate reporting.

In 2019, the Business Roundtable made waves by declaring that the era of shareholder primacy is over—meaning that CEOs must lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers and communities.

(more…)

]]> https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/10/28/esg-the-2020-u-s-presidential-election/feed/ 2