The Evolving Intersection of Corporate and Environmental Law

The UCL Centre for Law and Environment Annual Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Mariana Pargendler (Harvard Law School).

About this Event

This lecture will examine the evolving intersection between corporate and environmental law. The first part analyzes how traditional notions of corporate separateness and limited liability can contribute to environmental degradation by restricting avenues for accountability. It will then explore how new understandings of corporate separateness and experiences from the Global South hold promise for strengthening the enforcement of environmental law. The second part of the lecture focuses on the influential role nonprofit organizations have played in incorporating environmental—and especially climate change—considerations into corporate governance worldwide. It will examine the diverse strategies these organizations employ, their achievements to date, and the challenges and backlash they have encountered. 

About the Speaker

Professor Mariana Pargendler’s scholarship focuses on corporate law, corporate governance, and contract law from economic and comparative perspectives.

She has published over 30 articles in various journals and edited volumes, including the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the American Journal of Comparative Law, among others. She is also a coauthor of The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach (Oxford University Press, 2017), a leading academic treatise on comparative corporate law. Her work has been translated into several languages, and she has lectured widely at universities across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Her article on the grip of nationalism on corporate law was awarded the Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Prize by the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) in 2020. Her article on the history and political economy of corporate lawmaking in Brazil was recognized with the Hessel Yntema Prize by the American Society of Comparative Law in 2013. Read more here.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash