ESG backlash and its impact on the German legal system

In the first half of 2024, ESG was still seen as an indisputable megatrend that was shaking up German corporate law with elementary force. However, the second half of 2024 brought an abrupt reversal of the trend, which was no less vehement and continues to this day. It reached its temporary climax with the elections in the USA, but even before that, the ESG issue had been significantly discredited at European level by the regulatory fury of EU legislators.

See also the following publications in this regard

• Koch, Jens, ESG - Zündstufen zum Megatrend, AG 2023, 553 - 563 (largely identical pre-publication of the article of the same name in Fleischer/Koch/Schmolke, Gesellschaftsrecht im Spiegel großer Debatten, 2024, 589 - 614).
• Koch, Jens, Sustainability in partnership law, ZPG 2023, 321 - 330. 
   

Current research projects

The research project examines the consequences of this trend reversal for German corporate law.

The topic of the "ESG backlash" with a particular focus on the situation in the USA will be one of the focus topics of this year's annual conference of the Institute for Sustainability, Corporate Law and Reporting.