Video Recording of Presentation: "ESG Trouble From the Center to the Ends of the Silk Roads—A Comparative Problématique "

 

 

I was delighted to have been able to present again, this time for our students at Penn State University, the presentation of my paper, "ESG Trouble From the Center to the Ends of the Silk Roads—A Comparative Problématique"  as part of the Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs (JLIA) Fall Speaker series. The paper was first presented which was first presented a  the Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association 22 September 2023 (see HERE). Thanks to Jesse Cardinal, Penn State Law (JD expected 2024), Managing Editor of Communications, Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs, for making this possible 

The abstract of the remarks lays out its substance:

 

Social credit regimes in China are well known to target trustworthiness. less well known is the interlinking between trustworthiness and risk, especially in the management and guidance of economic activity. That risk element is compounded when Chinese enterprises engage in economic activity both within and outside of China. In that context, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risk measures may play an important role. This presentation considers the relationship between ESG as a normatively objectified methodology for risk ranking, its alignment with the analytics and nudging strategies of social credit or data governance systems, and the challenges that arise where those regimes may produce disjunctions between home and host state regimes. The presentation starts with a brief consideration of social credit regimes as applied to economic activity within China. It then considers ESG measures as data-based system of normatively driven risk assessment and its interlinking with social credit modalities. The heart of the presentation then examines the operational characteristics of ESG as social credit in the operation of Chinese state owned enterprises and the challenges of aligning national with transnational ESG disclosures and analytics. The presentation ends with a brief consideration of the potential conversations between liberal democratic ESG social credit methodologies and frameworks and those emerging in and through the Chinese Silk Roads.

The PPT follow and may also be accessed HERE.

The video recording may be accessed on the Coalition for Peace & Ethics Website: HERE or directly from Penn State HERE.