Corporations are reckoning with how decisions to advocate on issues on Capitol Hill and statehouses across the country will bear up under scrutiny from investors and consumers who are increasingly skeptical the companies are committed to their stated values.
Executives overseeing the implementation of environmental, social and governance strategies say companies must think through how their lobbying activities address all business risks, including strictly financial concerns, such as corporate taxes, and ESG ones, like reputation.
“There is a bit of rhetoric out there that you can either have the ‘E’ or you can have economic outcomes,” said Katherine Neebe, chief sustainability officer at Duke Energy Corp., which serves nearly 10 million electric utility and natural gas customers. “I don’t think that’s the case.”
