As the U.N. climate change conference COP26 concluded on Saturday with nearly 200 countries passing an agreement that pushes for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, yet fell short of  2015 Paris Accord goals to limit the Earth's warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, ESG practice attorneys have been closely watching the outcome.

"There is a role to be played, there are solutions to be found and there's enormous opportunity as well," Covington & Burling senior of counsel Gary S. Guzy said. He served for the Clinton and Obama administrations in various environmental, social and governance (ESG) roles and spoke to the National Law Journal from the COP26 conference in Glasgow.

"There is an enormous governmental and business focus on the challenge of climate change, a real sense of urgency in finding solutions to address that challenge," Guzy said.