IBA launches series of podcast conversations with ESG conference keynote speakers
The International Bar Association (IBA) Legal Policy & Research Unit (LPRU) has launched a selection of exclusive conversations with keynote speakers following the third IBA annual conference on environmental, social and governance (ESG) – ESG: the Brussels Effect at a crossroads – held in Paris, France in June 2025.
Each speaker provided perspectives on what sustainability means in the current geopolitical environment and the role of legal professionals in keeping the sustainability agenda on track. Click here to listen to the podcast conversations with:- HE Ambassador Willem van de Voorde , Special Envoy for Climate and Environment, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Belgium;
- Mr Pascal Durand, former elected Member of the European Parliament / Rapporteur on the European Union Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD); and
- Professor Damilola S Olawuyi (SAN), Professor and UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, Hamad Bin Khalifa University / Independent Expert, United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
Mr Durand reflected on implications of the proposed EU Omnibus package and the critical role for lawyers in helping to identify and allocate responsibility for risks through contracting across value chains in relation to the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU CSDDD).
Mr Durand highlighted the importance of reasonable discussions among all stakeholders on the future environmental and social and human rights regulation. He explained: ‘It’s a bad time for the environment and human rights in the political sector, because we have no debate: it's ideological, and it's not easy. I hope that for the market, for the lawyers, for undertakings in general, it will not be the same. We need reasonable discussion. We need interaction between all stakeholders.’
Ambassador van de Voorde reflected on the confluence of challenges currently facing politicians in the EU and beyond, including a turbulent geopolitical environment, and the escalating impacts of climate change: ‘How to manage these contrasting experiences? Turbulence, which injects hesitation and at the same time, accelerating climate change. I think this is a very difficult time to navigate for our political leaders.’
He also highlighted the need for lawyers to be cognisant of these broader political trends: ‘We as diplomats or politicians are sometimes a little bit aloof and far away from the working ground where decisions are discussed in boardrooms, where the investment decisions have to be taken, where the contracts have to be prepared and concluded. That is the area where the lawyers operate, and I think that awareness of the broader political context in which these everyday decisions are being taken is key for lawyers […] I think this conference is extremely useful to sharpen that awareness among lawyers.’
Speaking on the impacts of recent geopolitical uncertainties on the legal sustainability landscape, Professor Olawuyi confirmed: ‘Despite the geopolitical questions, despite the debates, despite uncertainty, and lack of standardisation, since the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs] came into being in 2011, ESG has gained momentum, and ESG is squarely here to stay.’
As Professor Olawuyi observed, lawyers play a critical role in mainstreaming sustainable finance and clean technology practices, particularly within Global South jurisdictions: ‘What lawyers can do is to work with clients to say, OK, what are the de-risking tools that we need to equip businesses to be able to understand their ESG responsibilities and to be able to implement them? Of course, one key question for many businesses is the issue of financing: “we know what ESG means, but how do we even get the resources?” So perhaps there’s a need to think of innovative blended financing that will enable clients to gain access to international facilities that can help them to increase their investments in ESG. […] Lawyers can also clarify the role of clean technology entrepreneurship: how can countries develop supportive laws and incentives that can enhance homegrown technology development, rather than relying on technology imports from other parts of the world?’
In due course, the IBA will release conversations with:
- Naa Atswei Koney, ESG Lawyer and Strategist, Ernst & Young West Africa
- Paola Fonseca, Senior Corporate Counsel, Sphera
- Steven Richman, Chair, IBA Bar Issues Commission and Member, Clark Hill
- Mariana Herrero, Senior Vice Chair, IBA Water Law Committee and Partner, Galicia Abogados
- Lauren Boccardi, Senior Attorney for Impact Investing, The Nature Conservancy
The third ESG Conference was convened by the IBA European Regional Forum, North American Regional Forum, the IBA Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law Section (SEERIL), the IBA Business Human Rights Committee and the IBA Law Firm Management Committee, with support from the IBA LPRU.
Reflecting on the outcomes of the conference, John Vellone, Partner and National Leader, Energy, Resources & Renewables, Borden Ladner Gervais, Communications Officer, IBA Power Law Committee, and Chair of the 2025 ESG Conference Planning Committee, concluded: 'As we close this year’s ESG Conference, The Brussels Effect at a Crossroads, we saw that ESG is being reshaped, not abandoned. Despite political headwinds and regulatory divergence across jurisdictions, our discussions in Paris revealed a shared yet tempered optimism across the globe and a continued resolve to shape meaningful ESG frameworks.'
Learn more about the IBA’s sustainability initiatives here.
ENDS
Contact: IBApressoffice@int-bar.org
Notes
- The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, with the aim of protecting and promoting the rule of law globally, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
- Find the IBA on social media here:
Press Office
International Bar Association
Chancery House
53-64 Chancery Lane
London WC2A 1QS
United Kingdom
Mobile: +44 (0)7940 731 915
Main Office: +44 (0)20 7842 0090
Website: www.ibanet.org
Website page link for this news release:
Short link: https://tinyurl.com/5dwhur74
Full link: https://www.ibanet.org/IBA-launches-series-of-podcast-conversations-with-ESG-conference-keynote-speakers