ESG Risks in Construction Law: Adding Teeth to the Governance of Construction Supply Chains

The paper considers the implications of UK construction law on Environmental, Social, and Governance issues, especially the governance of construction supply chains. The authors consider: does current UK legislation align with ESG considerations for the governance of construction supply chains? How might contractual provisions deliver governance oversight and robust enforcement? Are current UK governance and contractual legislative frameworks merely symbolic, yielding unenforceable ESG commitments from the construction industry? What measures may be implemented to add ‘teeth’ to the enforcement of governance commitments? The paper presents a novel perspective explaining how statutes can be aligned with ESG objectives to enhance construction supply chain governance, and aims to move the discourse from purely theoretical discussions of ESG governance to enforceable solutions for governing construction supply chains.