Sustainability in Tandem: Navigating the Dual Jurisdictions of ESG Across Mainland China and Hong Kong amid Outbound Expansion

This study explores the evolution of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulatory frameworks of Mainland China and Hong Kong with a focus on their implications for Chinese companies’ outbound expansion. While Mainland China’s ESG development is driven by government policies and top-down mandates, Hong Kong adopted a market-oriented model that aligns closely with global standards. Through a comparative review of ESG regulations and qualitative case studies, most notably Geely Automobile Holdings Limited, this study demonstrates how companies strategically navigate the tension between domestic compliance and international ESG requirements. The findings highlight the critical role of dual adaptation, wherein firms comply with both Mainland China’s policy mandates and global market-driven ESG norms, fostering resource consolidation. By examining the regulatory differences between Mainland China and Hong Kong, this study also provides key public policy implications for improving cross-border ESG coordination. The results highlight that regulatory harmonization and effective stakeholder engagement mechanisms between the two jurisdictions play a crucial role in fostering sustainable business practices, enhancing the global competitiveness of Chinese firms, and strengthening policy consistency. Keywords: ESG regulations; Mainland China; Hong Kong; outbound expansion; sustainability

ESG in Germany: From the European Green Deal to the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act

This article discusses the trend towards environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related laws in Germany in the context of Germany’s membership of the European Union (EU). As an EU member state, Germany is subject to a wave of recent directives and regulations that the EU passed as part of its so-called “European Green Deal”. However, Germany also has its own tradition of promoting the goal of sustainability in the law, including company law. The article first distinguishes relevant terminology as some regulations refer to ESG, whereas others to “sustainability”. It then traces the historic development of such laws in German law, including the traditional debate about the interest of the company in German law. This discussion is followed by a case study that critically examines the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act of 2021 that continues to be subject to heated political discussions. The article demonstrates how ESG has, in recent years, become a compliance issue in Germany that is now a matter of consideration for boards. Keywords: sustainability; supply chain; LkSG; company law; implementation; Germany; corporate governance; compliance; human rights; ESG

Service Charge Budget: To Consult or Not to Consult?

This article examines whether freeholders should be legally required to consult long-leaseholders on service charge budgets before imposing and collecting charges. Using empirical survey data—both qualitative and quantitative—alongside doctrinal analysis and theoretical insights from management studies, I argue in favour of such a requirement. Additionally, I draw upon my experience of over 30 years as both a leaseholder and a freeholder managing the block of flats in which I reside. The discussion is structured around three key arguments. First, I propose that long leasehold contracts include an implied term necessitating consultation on service charge budgets. While legally complex and contentious, this argument establishes the foundation for the broader discussion. Second, I demonstrate that consultation constitutes good practice, as evidenced by professional guidance from management bodies—guidance that is not always adhered to in practice. Third, I advocate for a cultural shift towards greater consultation, arguing that fostering a consultative approach leads to improved outcomes for all parties involved. Empirical data further supports this argument, revealing a clear correlation between the degree of control exercised by leaseholders and the extent of consultation, which in turn enhances their overall experience. The stratified nature of this dataset provides a unique contribution to the debate. Keywords: contract law; contract management; implied terms; relational contract; domestic leasehold contracts/long leases; socio-legal empirical research

Courts and Horizontal Accountability in Climate Change Litigation

In La Oroya v Peru, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its quest to protect the “interest of future and present generations” based on the facts before it, suggested that the right to a healthy environment should have the status of a peremptory norm of general international law. The European Court of Human Rights has been at the centre of debates over its judgments, such as Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz v Switzerland, where it established positive obligations with regards to climate change under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under the African human rights system, regional courts have long sought to hold states to account for activities of state and multinational corporations that infringe on the right to a healthy environment. These developments reveal an emergent cadre of judges that are alive to the need to develop concrete normative standards on climate change litigation. To the untrained eye, these recent decisions suggest an erasure of the Global North–South divide that has stymied climate change negotiations. Consequently, this article examines the critical role of judge-made law in the potential cross-fertilization or “judicial globalization” of a normative body of climate change jurisprudence. It adopts a comparative approach by analysing recent jurisprudence emerging from regional courts in Africa and juxtaposing them with emerging trends in other international courts. Keywords: climate change litigation; judge-made law; horizontal accountability; peremptory norm; jus cogens; African, European and Inter-American human rights system