Baker McKenzie Q&A: Why is WEF Important for Sustainability?
Alyssa Auberger is Chief Sustainability Officer at Baker McKenzie, where she focuses on advancing sustainability both within the firm and for its clients.
Her work involves helping navigate sustainability challenges and opportunities while fostering resilience and long-term success.
As leaders from around the world unite in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, she shares her thoughts, expectations and insights.
Please briefly introduce Baker McKenzie’s sustainability strategy.
Sustainability for us means building a global law firm for the future. It’s about delivering long-term value for our stakeholders: our clients, people and communities.
We approach sustainability in three ways:
- By being a responsible business ourselves
- By interpreting and shaping sustainability policy as a thought leader
- By providing legal advice to help clients advance their sustainability agendas.
In 2019, we aligned our sustainability strategy with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), prioritising eight of the 17 SDGs based on the outcomes of the materiality assessment we conducted.
Our near-term science-based emissions reduction targets, approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), reflect our commitment to combating climate change.
By 2030, Baker McKenzie commits to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions 53.3% from a 2019 base year and to reduce absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions 27.5%.
What is the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and why is it important for sustainability?
Davos is a unique gathering where leaders from the public and private sectors discuss solutions to global challenges and the opportunity it presents to share best practices with peers and business leaders is invaluable.
At a time when sustainability intersects with global challenges such as energy transition and supply chain transformation, these discussions foster actionable and scalable solutions.
What themes can we expect to see from WEF this year?
This year’s meeting theme is Collaboration for the Intelligent Age, with five priorities:
- Reimagining growth
- Industries in the intelligent age
- Investing in people
- Safeguarding the planet
- Rebuilding trust.
I expect that many discussions will focus on regulatory evolution, supply chain impacts and leveraging technology to advance sustainability agendas.
At a time when sustainability intersects with global challenges such as energy transition and supply chain transformation, these discussions foster actionable and scalable solutions
What are the emerging trends in sustainability-related litigation, including greenwashing and ESG disputes?
Our Global Disputes Forecast 2025 revealed that ESG disputes remain a top concern for 40% of organisations surveyed.
The biggest concern is regulatory compliance — especially with regulations such as the EU Waste Framework Directive or the Emissions Trading System.
This is not surprising, given potential fines and reputational damage are top of mind for businesses.
We also anticipate litigation risks arising from human rights issues in supply chains, especially with the EU’s CSRD and CSDDD coming into effect. And we can’t overlook climate litigation, which is also set to grow.
Cases like the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling against Switzerland in 2024 show how governments and businesses are increasingly being held accountable for consequences of climate inaction.
Finally, the 'anti-ESG' movement poses risks as legislation emerges in parts of the US, the Middle East, China and Europe.
How are regulatory changes in the US and EU impacting corporate sustainability strategies?
Organisations are focused on meeting the requirements of the EU’s CSRD and CSDDD. These frameworks demand rigorous assessments of impacts, risks and opportunities and data collection, but should be viewed as contributing to long-term business resilience.
While discussions continue around simplifying the EU’s sustainability regulatory requirements, global businesses cannot 'wait and see', especially as these regulations apply to both EU and non-EU companies operating within the EU.
In the US, the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule may face significant challenge under the incoming administration — because state-level regulations are already coming into effect, it is important to stay across what is happening to ensure compliance even if the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule falls by the wayside.
Meanwhile, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has introduced voluntary standards that many jurisdictions are considering making mandatory.
All that to say, there is a lot for businesses to keep up with on the regulatory front.
What challenges and opportunities do companies face when transitioning to sustainable practices?
A major challenge is keeping pace with evolving regulations, requiring organisations to collect data, engage stakeholders and invest in technology.
This requires significant investment and strong leadership to drive cultural change. All of this can result in lower margins — the so-called first mover disadvantage.
But there are also tremendous opportunities to seize. Sustainability is about understanding your business’ competitive advantage and vulnerabilities, making it resilient to face the future.
Businesses that embrace sustainability can unlock cost savings, drive innovation, enhance brand reputation, attract new customers and attract sustainability-focused investment.
Why is cross-sector collaboration critical for driving industry-wide change?
Collaboration is essential because no organisation can tackle sustainability challenges alone. By sharing knowledge and pooling resources, businesses can mitigate risks and reduce this first mover disadvantage.
This collaboration can take place within a sector, and perhaps more impactfully within a value chain, supporting suppliers in adopting sustainable practices that benefit entire industries.
Of course, collaboration should always comply with competition laws to avoid issues with sensitive market information.
What is the outlook for sustainability in 2025 and beyond?
Looking ahead, geopolitical dynamics could shape sustainability agendas, with differing regulatory approaches between the EU and US and the priorities of the next US administration playing key roles.
Technology is also high on my radar, both in how it can help with sustainability reporting while also creating new risks such as cybersecurity or increased energy demand.
The intensifying impacts of climate change, like the current wildfires in LA, underscore the urgency for action.
Finally, I suspect that climate activism and litigation are likely to grow, particularly in areas like human rights and supply chain.
All these developments are a reminder of how much work there is to do and how important it is to keep focus and move forward.
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