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VORGATE IMPACT WINTER LEGAL ESG FORUM
DECEMBER 5TH & 6TH 2023
NEW YORK | VIRTUAL
Vorgate Impact’s Winter ESG Forum 2023 marks our inaugural event to meet in-person or participate in the education online. This two-day event offers guidance on key trends and developments to accelerate operationalizing ESG and actionable legal insights.
We thank Morgan Lewis for co-hosting the event.
TOP ESG INDUSTRY SPEAKERS
Gayatri
Joshi
Founder/ CEO
Vorgate LLC
Carl Valenstein
Partner
Morgan Lewis
Aragon
St. Charles
Chief ESG Officer
Dentons
Natalie
Runyon
ESG Strategist
Thomson Reuters
Jonathan
Nwagbaraocha
Counsel – EHS, Sustainability, ESG & Corp. Compliance
Xerox
Matthew
Gingell
General Counsel
Oxygen House
Chris Cayten
Partner & Head of Strategy
CodeGreen
Katie
Schwamb
Director of Educational Resources
Building Energy Exchange
Mayra
Lujan
Energy Efficiency Program Manager, CRE & CSR
NYSERDA
Jennifer
Taranto
VP of Sustainability
Structure Tone
Jack
Jenkins
Director & Founder
Robert Derector Associates (RDE) Energy & Sustainability
Smruti
Agarwal
ESG Solutions Specialist
EcoVadis
Jonathan Cohen
CEO
Climate Vault
Bert
Van der Wee
Global Director of Strategic Initiatives
Cleary Gottlieb
Perry Goldschein
Financial Advisor
Equitable Advisors
Haley
Czarnek
National Director
Law Students for Climate Accountability
Lauren
Hartley
Portfolio Manager
Equal Justice Works
Marla
Thalheimer
Senior Director, Business Engagement
IMT
(Institute for Market Transformation)
AGENDA
Tuesday, December 5th – Operational Insights
| 8:30AM Breakfast |
| 9:15-10AM | ALISS Assessment Early Insights and 2024 Outlook Presentation Vorgate’s Founder Gayatri Joshi What have law firms implemented in terms of their sustainability integration? How much have law firms improved? We will share preliminary results from the ALISS sustainability assessment and take a look at what themes will prevail in 2024. |
| 10-11AM | Operationalizing ESG – Buildings Panel Dentons Chief ESG Officer Aragon St. Charles Structure Tone’s VP of Sustainability Jennifer Taranto Robert Derector Associates: Energy & Sustainability (RDE), Dir./Founder Jack Jenkins What exactly does it mean to operationalize ESG today? Where are the biggest opportunities? In this session, we share how law firm Dentons operationalizes ESG and specifically within real estate. We then will take a deeper dive on new innovations and how to embed sustainability within construction and tenant spaces through success stories. |
| 11-12PM | Decarbonization and Green Leases Presentation & Panel NYSERDA’s Mayra Lujan – Energy Efficiency Program Manager, CRE and CSR Building Energy Exchange’s Director of Educational Resources Katie Schwamb CodeGreen’s Partner & Head of Strategy Chris Cayten IMT’s Senior Director, Business Engagement Marla Thalheimer Reducing GHG emissions from buildings must be an integral part of our carbon accounting strategies. How do we work with our landlords and building management? What resources exist to support emissions reduction? In this session, we learn about building decarbonization strategies, how to turn data in to action and green lease programs for your firm to take immediate action. |
| 12-1PM | Lunch/Break |
| 1-2PM | Sustainability/ESG Resourcing Workshop/Roundtable Vorgate’s Founder Gayatri Joshi In this guided roundtable/workshop, we will discuss how firms have structured ESG within their firms and how they are sourcing for personnel, resources, and budget. |
| 2-3PM | Metrics & Policy Workshop/Roundtable – Aggregating Data Vorgate’s Founder Gayatri Joshi In this guided roundtable/workshop, we will discuss the challenges that firms have to aggregate data and some best practices. |
| 3-3:30PM | Break |
| 3:30-4:30PM | Carbon Mitigation Strategies: How to Choose and Avoid Greenwash Presentation and Panel Nonprofit Climate Vault’s CEO Jonathan Cohen Cleary Gottlieb’s Global Director of Strategic Initiatives Bert Van Der Wee The demand for effective carbon offset strategies has grown exponentially due to the well-intentioned, voluntary commitments of organizations diversified by industry and geography. The major shortcomings of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), however, have been consistently exposed to negative publicity by The Guardian, Bloomberg, and more this year. Given this gap between quality supply and demand, we will share how regulated Compliance Carbon Markets (CCM) provide a trustworthy and verifiable alternative. Our discussion will include a comparison between the VCM and CCM, complemented by insights from a law firm that has conducted its own in-depth investigation. |
| 4:30-5:30PM | Becoming a Rated Company to Rating Your Supply Chain Presentation and Workshop EcoVadis’ ESG Solutions Specialist Smruti Agarwal In this session, EcoVadis will discuss how to become a rated company (particularly if your client is asking you!). We then will take it full circle to discuss the natural next step to rating your supply chain and next steps. |
| 5:30PM | Reception |
Wednesday, December 6th – Legal Insights
| 8:30AM Breakfast |
| 9:15-10AM | Keynote with Partner Carl Valenstein |
| 10-11AM | The Need for Measuring Advised Emissions – Conversation Oxygen House’s General Counsel Matthew Gingell You have just learned about Scope 1,2, and 3 emissions, but now what are advised emissions? Law firms can work towards net zero operations, but the one measure we do not consider is the emissions that are created from client matter work, such as from project financing or an M&A deal. In this session, we ask Matthew about advised emissions from his whitepaper and about the work of the Chancery Lane Project. |
| 11-12PM | Greenwashing: What is it & What are the Consequences Presentation Morgan Lewis Partner Carl Valenstein Good intentions or not, greenwashing has become more prevalent as companies navigate how to communicate about their sustainable business. Misstatements, misleading information, falling short of stated commitments can lead to reputational, regulatory and litigation risks for which companies and their advisors should be prepared. Regulations continue to proliferate around the world along with enforcement actions. In this session, we cover exactly what greenwashing is, EU, UK, and US regulations and enforcement action as well as best practices for ESG reporting and risk mitigation. |
| 12-1PM | Lunch/Break |
| 1-2PM | In house Counsel ESG Challenges & Trends Panel Thomson Reuters’ Natalie Runyon Xerox’s Counsel – EHS, Sustainability, ESG, & Corporate Compliance Jonathan Nwagbaraocha In-house counsel play a pivotal role in guiding their organizations toward sustainable and responsible business practices. . In this conversation, we learn how law firms can provide valuable assistance to in-house counsel in navigating the complex ESG landscape and what is top of mind for in house counsel from why ESG matters to antitrust concerns to reporting and disclosures to greenwashing and language precision. |
| 2-3PM | ERISA Plan Practices vis-à-vis ESG Options Fireside Chat Equitable Advisors’ Financial Advisor Perry Goldschein ERISA plan practices vis-à-vis ESG options in the wake of the DOL’s 2022 rule on the topic and subsequent litigation. Learn about this emerging area from leading experts in the field, and it potential multi-billion impact on ESG challenges and future retirees. |
| 3-3:15PM | Break |
| 3:15-4:15PM | Pro Bono Initiatives for your Firm Presentation & Conversation Equal Justice Works Portfolio Manager Lauren Hartley Firms are increasingly looking for more opportunities to engage in nature and social positive pro bono projects. Equal Justic Works will discuss their environmental justice program and how your firm can participate, One Million Hours, a newer initiative invites you to pledge to meet the goal of One Million Hours and Green Pro Bono will share how you can engage in their pro bono pipeline. |
| 4:15-5:15PM | Environmental Justice in the Justice Business LS4CA’s National Director Haley Czarnek In this session, LSCA National Director Haley Czarnek will present about the need to infuse legal culture with an intersectional environmental justice lens. Haley will discuss projects to describe firms’ impacts both qualitatively through narrative and quantitatively by measuring advised emissions, as well as the need to bring a critical perspective to projects that claim to be sustainable. |