Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

The discourse surrounding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and disclosures continues to develop, with corresponding changes to operations, business practice, and regulations. Our diverse team of professionals across our core disciplines brings an expansive range of capabilities and offerings together to work through a wide range of issues and opportunities related to ESG.

Our Offerings

We provide a range of services for the following types of clients:

• Asset managers, financial institutions, and investors
• Fortune 500 companies and their boards
• Government agencies
• Healthcare and nonprofit organizations
• Law firms and legal advisors

Relevant Experience

In the fast-evolving ESG field, BRG professionals provide advice, expert services, and testimony across the firm’s core disciplines of disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement and advisory.

Environmental

Environmental Disclosures and Greenwashing

BRG’s Environmental Advisory experts can provide strategic, analytic, and quantitative support to help companies ensure that financial statements and disclosures accurately provide environmental data including performance, viability, and material items to stakeholders; and that ESG product and service claims are valid and reasonable and can be relied on by both consumers and investors. In particular, we offer:

• Environmental due diligence
• Environmental cost quantification
• Financial statement review and disclosures
• Environmental performance and representations
• Sustainability and best practices
• Decision analysis and risk management

Energy & Climate

BRG’s Energy & Climate experts provide strategic, analytic, and quantitative support to help companies craft effective and profitable energy transition and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies and define, measure, and quantify GHG footprints. This includes expert analysis of GHG emissions and emissions intensities across energy production and infrastructure facilities, from original extraction through to end use and consumption. We have developed proprietary methodologies and models that use the best available data to produce rigorous independent and objective analysis and advice. In particular, we offer:

• Energy transition and GHG mitigation strategy
• Regulatory compliance solutions
• GHG and commodity price analysis and forecasting
• GHG footprint analysis:
  • Definition: We help anticipate and navigate policies and regulations for GHG measurement and mitigation.
  • Dimension: We typically help evaluate the magnitude of corporate exposure to climate change risks across relevant assets and infrastructure, and from suppliers, vendors, and consumers.
  • Quantification: For detailed quantification and regular management updating, we design and deliver expert calculation models for step-by-step supply quantification of GHG emissions and emissions intensities across company assets, infrastructure, and third-party supply chain relationships.

Social 

Labor and Employment Services for ESG-Related Projects

BRG professionals work with organizations and individuals, including executives, general counsel, human resource departments, and outside counsel, to address ESG disclosure requirements and reporting guidelines. Our teams help clients assess local and enterprise-wide labor issues and develop and conduct impact assessments to avoid operational and legal risks. Our services include:

• Identifying relevant data and its locations, collecting data, connecting relevant data from disparate sources, and creating databases and data reporting tools.
• Collecting, analyzing, and reporting on data concerning workforce composition, recruitment, job stability, and talent retention; training, skills, and capabilities; employee productivity; compensation and benefits; affirmative action; and pay equity.
• Performing gap analyses between ESG-related reporting plans and/or requirements and existing company data and information.
• Benchmarking company ESG disclosures against peers, competitors, and relevant industry, and/or across geographic regions.
• Serving as consulting and/or testifying experts in disputes and litigation matters arising from ESG-related issues and/or disclosures.

Governance 

Board Governance

Across all sectors, and in both for- and nonprofit settings, boards of directors and governing bodies (boards) must fulfill fiduciary duties that, collectively, require informed and robust oversight of the organization’s strategic and risk management initiatives. As sustainability, social responsibility, and effective governance have been validated as drivers of long-term value, ESG in many companies and firms has evolved from a component of the risk assessment process to a key strategic pillar. At the same time, challenging stakeholder expectations and regulatory requirements in virtually every industry have forged an increasingly complex and ever-changing governance landscape.

Comprehensive Assessments

Against that backdrop, boards are determining how best to oversee an organization’s ESG commitments, disclosures, and related workstreams. Consistent with best practices, many boards have embarked on comprehensive assessments of their governance models that include their size and composition, committee structure, policies and operating protocols, and communication and reporting channels. These evaluations also consider the data, metrics, and other information and materials developed by senior management. The work often culminates in the development of a detailed blueprint for enhancing the board’s effectiveness, including educational opportunities, recruitment of directors, and succession planning.

BRG professionals include thought leaders who advise boards and financial sponsors on the development of effective governance models that meet stakeholder expectations and are informed by best practices. The firm’s experts include former corporate and public-sector leaders, former law firm partners, and current and former board members.