Dilemmas Forum 2026, New York City
Tuesday 22 September 2026, 16:00 – 18:00 ET
Today's global challenges remain stark: geopolitical fragmentation is deepening, trust in institutions continues to erode, and the climate crisis is accelerating. Sustainability regulation is being recalibrated around the world, but not in the same direction or at the same pace everywhere. In 2026, the EU narrowed the mandatory scope of its core reporting and due diligence directives by roughly 90 per cent, even as the UK, US states, Japan, Singapore, and China continue to expand their own, often divergent, ESG obligations. The result is a widening, uneven gap between regulatory floors and the sustained expectations of investors, consumers and civil society worldwide, leaving legal and sustainability leaders to navigate credibility, litigation, and reputational risk without the clarity that mandatory frameworks once promised.
The same pattern of recalibration is now playing out in artificial intelligence. The promise of major efficiency gains from AI adoption is colliding with rising concern over its social and environmental footprint – from workforce displacement to the energy and water demands of the infrastructure behind it – just as regulators, including the EU with its own AI Act, move to defer several of the high-risk obligations meant to govern it. Leaders everywhere are being asked to sustain long-term commitments amid short-term volatility, often with limited internal alignment on how far to go beyond what the law currently requires and with fewer external mandates to point to when making that case internally.
The case for continued action on corporate sustainability has not weakened. Investors, employees, and consumers continue to reward credible performance and penalise misalignment, and the companies best positioned for long-term resilience are those that keep moving deliberately rather than waiting for a regulatory certainty that may not arrive.
How it Works
The Forum is built around four dilemmas drawn from the issues most frequently raised by our members:
- Regulatory recalibration and divergence — operating credibly as requirements shift and diverge across markets
- Value chain accountability — the limits of responsibility, influence, and leverage beyond tier one
- Communication and credibility risk — saying enough to be accountable without overstating progress
- AI efficiency and impact trade-offs — weighing productivity gains against environmental, social, and governance costs
Each table works through a hypothetical scenario built around one of these dilemmas, facilitated to surface practical approaches rather than restate principles. The session is held under Chatham House Rule.
By taking part, attendees will:
- Pressure-test your organisation's position on contested issues in a confidential setting
- Hear how peers in comparable roles are resolving the same trade-offs in practice
- Come away with with concrete approaches you can apply to live decisions
- Contribute to a shared body of insight that will inform the Network's advocacy and guidance
- Build relationships with senior counterparts across markets and sectors
Who Should Attend
The Forum is designed for C-suite and senior leaders with responsibility for how these dilemmas are resolved, including Chief Legal Officers, Chief Sustainability Officers, General Counsel, and directors of risk, corporate affairs, and governance.
Places are limited and allocated to keep each table balanced across sectors and roles.
Attendance is by invitation only subject to approval.