Anti-ESG standards: law and practice (elements of foreign experience)

Abstract

Subject Matter: The preservation of the environment for future generations and the achievement of other «sustainable development» goals consented by all the states within the the UN have given birth in the XXI century to the «Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)» standards, which are increasingly used with respect to either grant financial support to business entities. However, the introduction of ESG standards is accompanied by a number of negative consequences (an increase of the regulatory burden on business etc.), which led to a movement towards the consolidation of the opposite anti-ESG standards. The article explores the anti-ESG standards principally basing on the example of legal systems of the USA States, where they are introduced into parliamentary and subordinate legislation. Methods: The research was conducted using classical general scientific and special legal methods of cognition (historical, systemic, formal, etc.) in conjunction with an interdisciplinary approach (appraisal of legal phenomena in view of economic and political factors). Novelty: The article is the first attempt in Russian legal science to analyze, systematize and evaluate the essence and significance of anti-ESG standards in foreign legislation and law enforcement practice. Conclusions: Nowadays the American federalism is facing the legal competition between «pro-ESG» and «anti-ESG» rules at the States’ level. The results of this competition is worth monitoring in Russia and other countries in order to develop their own approaches to the legal regulation of sustainable development including ESG (or anti-ESG) standards.