Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally- friendly activities?

TLC is an estate developer with world-class expertise in modular construction. We believe that ESG fundamentals are crucial to developing resilient assets that deliver long-term value for our customers. We are committed to integrating ESG considerations into our operating philosophy. Compared to traditional construction processes, modular construction results in significant waste reduction. The versatility of a modular solution means that it can be deployed faster, with significantly less disruption and environmental impact.

I was brought on board as part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s investment in TLC and specialise in enforcing governance controls in an uncontrolled environment. This is an imperfect art because we are dealing with humans in a changing, uncertain environment. I am responsible for delivering the group’s compliance program, which mainly focuses on governance controls, supply chain integrity, diversity and inclusion, and enforcing the wider ESG agenda.

Climate change presents a material risk to businesses and the economy. My role involves creating materiality assessments that map ESG aspects under two heads: stakeholder relevance and strategic importance. Items that rank highly on both receive greater emphasis as part of the ESG program. I counsel the board on the integration of material ESG considerations into TLC’s operational decisions. I also advise on the integrity of the data collection process to satisfy stakeholder mandated ESG parameters as part of the monitoring process for ongoing projects in a financially stressed environment.

In the last quarter, I steered a team to execute a complex reorganisation of TLC group, including the restructuring of debt from various alternative capital providers and the writing off of unsustainable debt; a rebalancing of the capital structure of TLC group; and a re-arrangement of priorities of different senior, mezzanine and bridge financings to each other, through interwoven intercreditor arrangements. A key investment criterion for investors was to apply the ESG performance standards and corporate governance methodology – a reference framework developed by the International Finance Corporation. The external investment came with enhanced ESG reporting obligations, as well as obligations to undergo periodic audits which I am responsible for monitoring and reporting on.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

In-house counsels are no longer limited to a reactive role; they are now to pre-empt problems as decisions are being made. In terms of a corporation’s ESG program delivery, in-house lawyers can influence ESG reporting processes so that they are coherent, comprehensive and useful to the business.

In-house lawyers can align the corporation’s leadership around a shared definition of ESG, scoping the program to focus on a core set of material issues, setting meaningful goals, governing program execution toward success, and communicating the program mission and outcomes. This is to ensure that the ESG program delivers key reputational, risk management and business performance benefits to the organisation. An experienced in-house lawyer’s knowledge of regulations and disclosure frameworks will ensure that ESG goals are consistent with the expectations of stakeholders and the industry, as well as organisational capabilities and will also make sure that climate change is not treated as just an auditing task.