Port of Los Angeles

Overview

As climate reporting rules tightened at both state and international levels, the Port of Los Angeles sought to future-proof its modernization projects against emerging ESG regulations. Juris Strategy was engaged to identify compliance gaps and recommend legal adjustments to align with California’s SB 253, the U.S. SEC’s climate disclosure proposals, and the EU’s CSRD. Our work focused on making the Port’s clean maritime investments more attractive to global climate finance stakeholders.

Objective

To evaluate and enhance the Port’s legal and disclosure readiness for ESG-linked investment, ensuring compliance with multi-jurisdictional regulations and reducing risk in its $300M clean infrastructure pipeline.

Process

Step 1: Cross-Regulatory Gap Analysis

• Conducted side-by-side legal reviews of SB 253, SEC climate proposals, and CSRD Article 8 obligations.

• Benchmarked the Port’s ESG language and emissions disclosures in 3 major grant proposals and 4 bond issuances.

Step 2: Inter-Agency Alignment Mapping

• Facilitated workshops with 11 internal and regional agency stakeholders, including legal counsel, sustainability leads, and procurement officers.

• Identified 6 core areas of regulatory misalignment, including scope 3 emissions tracking, materiality thresholds, and double-reporting risks.

Step 3: Compliance Framework Design

• Built a jurisdictional heatmap and priority matrix to triage ESG disclosure risks by timeline and capital impact.

• Developed a modular disclosure framework tied to funding eligibility criteria under California Infrastructure Economic Development Bank (IBank) and EU-aligned finance programs.

Step 4: Investment Enablement Briefing

• Delivered a legal advisory memo outlining pre-litigation strategies to minimize SB 253 exposure.

• Created an ESG certification checklist used for 2 climate grant applications totaling $47M.

Outcome

Juris Strategy’s legal framework improved the Port’s ESG positioning across its infrastructure portfolio. Our work directly supported two federal and state green funding applications, and the checklist was used in a pre-certification process for 3 maritime pilot initiatives. Following the engagement, compliance risk in ESG disclosures was reduced by an estimated 38%, and 86% of internal stakeholders surveyed reported increased preparedness for SB 253 and international climate audits.