Green Talk: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environmental Crisis

Wed 1 February 2023

Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre)

What is Corporate Social Responsibility? The purpose of this lecture is to provide a general introduction to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of the global environmental crisis.

Its objective is two-fold. First, to offer the audience an overview of the topic and some clarity in a wide, complex, multi-layered and much confused debate. Second, to outline the market/business and regulatory trends and challenges related to corporate social responsibility and corporate governance.

The approach undertaken is voluntarily broad, exploring the trends and challenges that exist on a multitude of levels and regarding a multitude of actors. Some of the questions that the lecture seeks to raise concern the role of the market and the State in transitioning towards sustainable economies, the routes whereby corporations and their executives can be held liable on CSR grounds, as well as how to mitigate CSR risks for corporate actors. It will also raise questions on the scope and potential of recent developments such as the advent of common ownership and systemic risk, green hedge fund activism, and climate change litigation.

A Q&A will provide the opportunity to discuss some topics that interest the audience. It is hoped that at the end of the session the participants will be equipped with new perspectives on how to approach and think about these issues, and will better understand the different layers, and challenges, that underpin current business and regulatory debates.

At the end of the session, participants are warmly invited to carry on these discussions around some drinks offered by the lecturer.

Cost: Free