Bennett Freeman

speaker

102 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 8 Jul

Bennett Freeman’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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Frankly Speaking - A Podcast on Responsible Business · #114 Bennett Freeman & Chloe Cole: How Have US Corporates Responded to the ESG Backlash? · 8 Jul 2026 podcast

And without using the acronym ESG, the whole intent was very clear that investors who think that their environmental, social and governance factors

to be considered in the investment research and decision-making process should be permitted to do so and not shut down, as some states and, unfortunately, public pension funds, fiduciaries in some of the states have tried to do.

So that was a hopeful sign.

I think, and maybe I'm

too much of an internal optimist even admits some of the nasty realities that we're facing in the US these days.

But I would like to think that both in the US and across the Atlantic and abroad, that the ESG agenda, which I define narrowly in terms of investors' concerns, but it's an acronym that

has become something of a proxy for broader corporate responsibility and sustainability, I'd like to think this agenda is going to be resilient.

I think it will be as the climate crisis intensifies as we feel.

is felt around the world and as human rights risks and responsibilities frankly not just continue but intensify and diversity challenges and opportunities persist as well.

I'm hopeful that this backlash has peaked.

I'm hopeful that the backlash against the backlash is going to gain some momentum.

And I'm heartened that there's some bipartisan, including Republican, support for investor choice to decide which factors they believe are most salient and at times material.

Exactly.

You know, and let's just take up the social license to operate.

It sounds like an abstract phrase.

It is about as tangible and material as it gets when it happens.

Shell knows the story well, having over three decades now finally exited the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in the face of intermittent and at times intense pressure from local authorities.

uh communities opposition to human rights abuses environmental pollution and so forth there is a growing business case not just a moral or ethical case but a business case and frankly a political case for companies to take very very seriously these risks and responsibilities and to understand that while the political winds have been blowing in one direction particularly in the u.s the last 16 or 18 months that the winds will change and

But the climate will remain broadly the same with these pressures.

And there are pressures from different sides, not just in the U.S., from around the world.

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