Sustainability Law and Governance in the Era of AI

2 credits · Law

Law and regulation are playing an unprecedented role in sustainability strategy globally, with legal analysis figuring prominently in the development of critical corporate initiatives in the areas of product development, reporting, commercial communications and supply chain management, implicating topics such as circularity, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and human rights, and helping to shape an approach to sustainability that focuses on advancing core business objectives, ensures consistency across various regulatory regimes, and protects the company. Achieving this result entails managing core governance issues, including product design standards, data availability, substantiation, materiality, and geopolitical considerations. In addition, accelerating AI development and the widespread adoption of AI raise questions regarding the role that sustainability strategies, legal regimes and governance principles should play in identifying, assessing and prioritizing potential AI risks and opportunities. This course will examine the key legal and governance issues impacting the development of corporate sustainability strategy in the U.S. and globally, assess the application of sustainability legal requirements to AI business models, and evaluate whether sustainability legal regimes offer conceptual tools that can aid in the development of AI strategy. Elements used in grading: Attendance, class participation, final paper.