Lex Mundi report on sustainable transformation
Lex Mundi, the world’s leading global network of independent law firms, announces the launch of its annual thought leadership report featuring findings from its most recent General Counsel Summit, held in Munich. The Lex Mundi Summit Report 2022 (‘Report’), Enterprise Values vs. Enterprise Value: Governance in an Era of Sustainable Transformation, follows on from the conclusions of last year’s report – which concluded that the pandemic had created a catalyst for the simmering fragmentation of the business landscape. It explores how the continued societal focus on sustainability is rewriting the rules of global capitalism, forcing general counsel to increasingly serve as a bridge to a more diverse range of stakeholders.
Each year, Lex Mundi works with members of the global general counsel community to identify a core challenge to advancing corporate strategy. This year Lex Mundi gathered experts, general counsel, and law firm partners in Munich for a two-day summit to explore and compare approaches to providing legal guidance to company management, business teams, and boards. The report combines redacted evidence from our consultations with additional research and analysis.
The report breaks down into three key areas of focus: The Management Squeeze, The New Capitalism, and Supply Chain Integrity, sharing key findings that included corporate governance, evolution of ESG targets, supply chain integrity and how leadership is key to driving corporate culture and a company’s commitment to sustainability.
The report concludes with guidance for GCs and their teams on the information and tools needed to balance the competing pressures whilst navigating complex risk management.
Eric Staal, vice president (global markets) at Lex Mundi, “The preeminence of the sustainability agenda is setting in motion an overhaul of the rules of global capitalism. As part of the new economic paradigm, we have identified in the Report how the model of corporate governance is giving way to a new model stakeholder governance. Much of the responsibility for managing this transition will lie with the general counsel, who will help corporate leadership teams balance this pressure with other business imperatives such as meeting financial targets and basic compliance. The real world trade-offs involved will naturally presuppose a heightened awareness of, and strategy to proactively manage the competing priorities of diverse stakeholders.”
Helena Samaha, CEO and president of Lex Mundi, “As the climate challenge becomes ever more pronounced, expectations are rising exponentially. Targets are rising, and new regulations are being introduced or updated across most major jurisdictions. General Counsel are always expected to be fleet of foot but increasingly need to with the guile to manage a more diverse range of stakeholders, to balance these pressures with traditional business imperatives. This report aims to provide intelligence to the global legal community to understand this new model of stakeholder governance, and to identify the best practices for risk management in a time of such uncertainty.”
