Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Environmental Justice (EJ) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) are trending terms used to address the impacts of corporate actions as well as environmental and social regulation of people and the planet. ESG metrics are primarily private governance inventions (though increasingly required by public law relying on private frameworks) that aim to measure and disclose environmental and social criteria while fostering value for businesses. On the other hand, EJ was borne as a social movement that evolved into regulatory frameworks employed by EJ advocates and governmental agencies to assess inequalities in environmental impacts caused by regulations. With the growing prominence of EJ considerations, private environmental governance mechanisms in the form of ESG disclosure frameworks are incorporating EJ criteria, indexes and tools as part of their metric-driven approach.
However, a tension exists between (1) the notion of social justice at the heart of the environmental justice movement, and (2) the nature of for-profit corporations which generate value by externalizing costs that translate to environmental injustices. This thesis aims to explore the paradoxical relation of ESG including EJ criteria despite these opposing notions, when, nevertheless, there exists a need for innovative mechanisms to address today’s pressing social and environmental challenges. To that end, this thesis aims to evaluate and critically assess the inclusion of EJ in voluntary ESG reporting by identifying the gaps in ESG frameworks and proposing the integration of EJ tools to address these deficiencies. This thesis argues that EJ concerns often remain unrecognized due to the structural separation between environmental “E” and social “S” considerations in voluntary ESG disclosure frameworks. The term “environmental justice” is often exclusively associated with the “S” side of ESG reporting, illustrating the fragmentation and inconsistent implementation of EJ criteria in disclosures, highlighting the challenges of acquiring relevant and accurate EJ data, and raising questions about how a category explicitly addressing EJ may not encompass environmental impacts. Thus, this work intends to provide ideas and tools for businesses looking to expand their ESG frameworks to include EJ criteria in an effort to inform corporate decision-making and assure long-term corporate viability, as well as help EJ supporters to understand the complex dynamics of ESG disclosure in the pursuit of EJ objectives.
Recommended Citation
Barbara Ballan, The ESG Paradox: Addressing Environmental Justice Through Voluntary Disclosure Frameworks, (Nov. 2024) (SJD Dissertation, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawdissertations/37/.