Perspectives on Corporate Climate Action

Please join the Yale Environmental Law Association (YELA) and the Yale Law & Business Society (YLBS) for a panel exploring the evolving legal landscape for corporate action on climate change against the backdrop of the SEC’s newly finalized climate disclosure rules and the ongoing political firestorm around ESG investing. The panel will feature Professor Yair Listokin, Deputy Dean and Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law, Professor Madison Condon of Boston University School of Law, James Rubin, Visiting Lecturer in Law and the Chief Investment Officer of Aligned Climate Capital, and Nate Loewentheil, Visiting Lecturer in Law and the founder and managing partner of Commonweal Ventures.

Non-pizza lunch will be provided. 

Panelists: 

Professor Yair Listokin is Deputy Dean and the Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law at Yale Law School. His scholarship studies tax law, corporate law, bankruptcy law, contract law, and the law of central banking. His research emphasizes a macroeconomic perspective that differs dramatically from the microeconomic perspective that dominates law and economics. He recently co-authored a paper called “Valuing ESG,” arguing that translating non-pecuniary ESG goals into dollar values will enable ESG to fulfill its promise. 

Professor Madison Condon is an Associate Professor at Boston University School of Law and an expert on climate change, financial risk, and regulation. Her research has been relied upon by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Labor in rulemakings. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology pointed to her work criticizing financial models in its recommendations for managing extreme weather risk. In 2023, Professor Condon joined the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment Academy Network Advisory Committee. 

James Rubin is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and the Chief Investment Officer of Aligned Climate Capital, a leading firm focused on the energy transition. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of the New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) in mid-2023. He was previously the CEO of Meridiam NA, which developed infrastructure projects in partnership with local governments in North America. Rubin was Director of State Operations for the State of New York and Commissioner of the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal Redevelopment (HCR) and the New York Director of the President’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Rebuilding Task Force as well as a Senior Advisor to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. This spring he is co-teaching a seminar here at YLS called “Climate Grand Strategy: The Political Economy of the Clean Energy Transition.”

Nate Loewentheil is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and the founder and managing partner of Commonweal Ventures. He has been an angel and venture investor for 15 years, serving on the boards of many early-stage technology companies. He served in the Obama White House as a Special Assistant to the President at the National Economic Council, where he advised on emerging technology, transportation, and clean energy. This spring he is co-teaching a seminar here at YLS called “Climate Grand Strategy: The Political Economy of the Clean Energy Transition.”