ESG Now and in the Future: Is There Common Ground?

The Freedom Center, in collaboration with the National Review Institute, is hosting a debate on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG), delving into the multifaceted nature of this issue at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

The debate features former White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Robert Gibbs as moderators with a distinguished panel of experts, including Andrew Behar, CEO of the shareholder advocacy and engagement non-profit As You Sow; Kevin Hassett, former Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers; and Kimberly Yee, the State Treasurer of Arizona. UArizona President Robert C. Robbins will attend and offer welcoming remarks highlighting the event as an example of the university’s commitment to viewpoint diversity and constructive debate.

Some view ESG as the key to achieving a sustainable and fair future, while others believe it conceals an underlying political agenda. Corporations and investors have embraced ESG initiatives that address climate change, gender and racial equality, workplace diversity, and critical social and political matters. These choices raise questions, such as measuring the effect of ESG-related decisions on firm performance, assessing the legitimacy of these decisions, aligning ESG initiatives with fiduciary responsibilities, and the implications of these initiatives for freedom of speech.

Conceived by Saura Masconale, Associate Director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science, and organized with Mary L. Rigdon, Director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Associate Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science.

For those who can't make the debate in-person, join us via live stream: https://tinyurl.com/mr2en5t6

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