July 30, 2026
Side by Side: Sustainability and Legal
How Sustainability and Legal Teams Are Navigating Sustainability Regulations Together
As sustainability regulations shift across jurisdictions, companies increasingly need close coordination among sustainability, legal, and compliance teams.
To meet this moment, sustainability and legal teams are adapting quickly. They are increasingly working hand-in-hand to interpret requirements and support compliance, and are navigating the benefits and challenges that emerge as they do so.
Key Findings
The current state and structure of sustainability-focused teams
Which sustainability regulations are driving increased pressure on sustainability and legal teams
The specific risks companies see increasing and the implications for sustainability risk management
The reported benefits and challenges of cross-functional collaboration
Current gaps in support for in-house teams managing sustainability disclosure and compliance
Actions companies can take to improve collaboration and strengthen sustainability governance
Summary
Developed by Governance & Accountability Institute in partnership with Ropes & Gray, this report draws directly from the experiences of sustainability and legal professionals to examine how their teams are interacting at a time of increasing sustainability regulation and oversight.
Our researchers engaged sustainability and legal professionals from 35 leading companies across a range of industries through a structured survey and in-depth interviews. The findings show that corporate sustainability and legal teams remain lean even as sustainability disclosure and compliance responsibilities continue to expand. Professionals frequently manage multiple priorities with limited resources, increasing the need for clear roles, efficient processes, and coordinated decision-making.
The research demonstrates why cross-functional collaboration is becoming increasingly important to sustainability risk management and the results of our engagement clearly indicate ways in which this has already begun and is likely to increase.
What You’ll Learn
Hear directly from both sustainability and legal professionals. Understand their perspectives in a side-by-side format that surfaces similarities and differences in experiences, priorities, and needs. Learn how sustainability work is changing, how corporate sustainability and legal teams are collaborating, the benefits and challenges stemming from increasing interaction. Consider potential practices and tools that could serve to improve collaboration and support sustainability compliance and help companies to respond effectively to changing sustainability regulations.
Who Should Read This
Corporate sustainability, legal, compliance, and risk professionals, and corporate leadership – all those who are focused on ensuring their companies are effectively navigating evolving sustainability regulations and stakeholder expectations.
Support
Need help navigating sustainability regulations and evolving reporting requirements? Explore our Reporting Standards & Framework Support.
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June 11, 2026
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