- link Copy URL - [ Share on X ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=New Research Identifies Rising Collaboration Among Sustainability and Legal Teams, Bringing Both Benefits and Challenges https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1317966?absolute=1&via=3blnews "Share on X") - [ Share on linkedin ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1317966?absolute=1 "Share on Linkedin") - [ Share on facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1317966?absolute=1 "Share on Facebook") - [ email Share via email ](mailto:?subject=New Research Identifies Rising Collaboration Among Sustainability and Legal Teams, Bringing Both Benefits and Challenges&body=ESG News from Governance & Accountability Institute https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1317966?absolute=1 "Share via email") [Research & Reports](/categories/research-reports) # New Research Identifies Rising Collaboration Among Sustainability and Legal Teams, Bringing Both Benefits and Challenges ##### G&A, Ropes & Gray Publish Study on Cross-Function Collaboration in Changing Sustainability Landscape Jul 30, 2026 10:00 AM ET ![Side by Side: Sustainability and Legal -A Look Inside Two Corporate Functions Navigating Complexity & Uncertainty Together](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/PR-Paper-Graphic-1280x720-Collaboration.jpg "Side by Side: Sustainability and Legal -A Look Inside Two Corporate Functions Navigating Complexity & Uncertainty Together") Side by Side: Sustainability and Legal -A Look Inside Two Corporate Functions Navigating Complexity & Uncertainty Together NEW YORK, July 30, 2026 /3BL/ - Sustainability consulting and research firm Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A) and global law firm Ropes & Gray have released new research on interactions between sustainability and legal teams within companies, at a time of increasing sustainability-related regulation and oversight. The report, titled **Side by Side: Sustainability and Legal – A Look Inside Two Corporate Functions Navigating Complexity & Uncertainty Together**, finds that regulation is driving greater collaboration and re-ordering of reporting lines. While the stakes and demands are rising, corporate sustainability teams and sustainability-focused legal teams continue to be quite lean, requiring professionals to wear many hats and make the most of limited resources. All of this makes effective cross-functional collaboration more important, and the results of our engagement clearly indicate that this has already begun and all signs point to it continuing to increase. The researchers engaged sustainability and legal professionals from 35 leading companies across a range of industries through a structured survey and in-depth interviews. Our engagement took place between September 2025 and February 2026, a time marked by the ramp-up and subsequent pause of portions of California’s climate disclosure laws, the stay of the climate-related disclosure rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revisions to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and other reversals and evolutions. Taking stock of corporate teams’ experiences during this time revealed that the work of corporate sustainability has changed dramatically in just the past few years. In light of these rising demands and quickly changing expectations, it is clear that sustainability is increasingly intertwined with compliance and legal concerns. Amidst the pressures and uncertainties, the story that emerges is one of greater functional overlap between sustainability and compliance, and as a result, sustainability and legal teams adapting quickly. This means increasingly working hand-in-hand, and navigating the benefits and challenges that emerge as they do so. The report details: - Current state of sustainability-focused teams - Which regulations are most responsible for the increase in pressure on sustainability and legal teams - Specific risks companies see increasing - Reported benefits and challenges of collaboration - Current gaps in support for in-house teams - Actions that can improve collaboration between sustainability and legal teams Louis Coppola, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at G&A, remarked, “In G&A's 20 years advising companies at the intersection of sustainability and governance, we've watched this collaboration between sustainability and legal teams grow into one of the defining operational questions for corporate sustainability programs — 39% of the sustainability functions in our research now report into legal, 87% of sustainability leaders told us regulation has increased their interactions with legal in the past year alone, and not one expects their role in this work to decrease. What stands out most is the alignment: put a sustainability leader and a chief legal officer in the same room and they largely tell you the same things about what they need. G&A is ready to help companies use these findings to build stronger, more effective collaboration between these two functions." Michael Littenberg, Partner and Global Head of the ESG, CSR and Business and Human Rights Compliance Practice at global law firm Ropes & Gray, added, “We are delighted to have partnered with G&A on this important piece of research. It confirms trends we are seeing in the market and will help companies with their future planning and efforts to build an effective, efficient sustainability compliance function.” The report is available through [**G&A’s research hub**](https://ga-institute.com/research/collaborations/sustainability-and-legal-corporate-functions-navigating-complexity-uncertainty-together/). **About G&A Institute** For more information, visit [https://**www.ga-institute**.com](https://www.ga-institute.com). **About Ropes & Gray** For more information, visit . **Media Contact:** Louis D. Coppola, *CEO & Co-Founder* Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. Tel 646.430.8230 ext 14 Email [**lcoppola@ga-institute.com**](mailto:lcoppola@ga-institute.com) [![Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc.](/sites/default/files/Clients/GA-Logo-2020_Blue-Final-Vertical.png)](/profiles/governance-accountability-institute-inc) ### More from Governance & Accountability Institute ###### [Climate Costs Are Compounding, But So Is the Response](/news/climate-costs-are-compounding-so-response) Jul 28, 2026 3:00 PM ET ###### [At Consequential Moment for Corporate Reporting, G&A’s Louis Coppola Chairs GRI Stakeholder Council](/news/consequential-moment-corporate-reporting-gas-louis-coppola-chairs-gri-stakeholder-council) Jul 16, 2026 10:00 AM ET ###### [AI Wants Power. Now Comes the Accounting.](/news/ai-wants-power-now-comes-accounting) Jul 13, 2026 12:00 PM ET ###### [The Ocean on the Balance Sheet](/news/ocean-balance-sheet) Jun 23, 2026 10:00 AM ET ###### [G&A Institute Issues New Resource Paper on EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation](/news/ga-institute-issues-new-resource-paper-eus-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation) Jun 11, 2026 11:00 AM ET ###### [The SEC Steps Back From Climate Rules. The Rest of the World – and Its Capital – Keep Moving Forward](/news/sec-steps-back-climate-rules-rest-world-and-its-capital-keep-moving-forward) Jun 8, 2026 1:10 PM ET ###### [G&A Issues Resource Paper to Help Tech Suppliers Meet Customer Climate Requests](/news/ga-issues-resource-paper-help-tech-suppliers-meet-customer-climate-requests) Jun 3, 2026 10:00 AM ET ###### [Follow the Money: Sustainability Moves Into Finance Function](/news/follow-money-sustainability-moves-finance-function) May 26, 2026 10:00 AM ET