Covid, climate change, #BlackLivesMatter and ESG: will social and environmental sustainability finally become core business strategy?
I recently spoke on a panel discussing ‘ESG.’ To those of you who aren’t familiar (or for those who try to avoid acronyms as much as I do), ‘ESG’ stands for ‘Environmental, Social, Governance’ and refers to a company’s commitment to actively contribute positively to the environment or social causes, as well as to the usual focus of making profit. (*Pause to think for a moment that this means ESG has not previously been part of many (most?) companies’ core strategic decision-making. Then link that to the reasons behind recent social and environmental movements that have arisen to address massive racial, gender and other inequalities and the cliff edge of irreversible climate change. Where we are at the present moment start to appear a bit more… inevitable.)
Back to this panel discussion: ESG considerations by investors, shareholders and companies is, apparently, finally a ‘trend.’ Thank god for that. The panel discussed, among other things:
How COVID-19 has amplified ESG awareness and expectations among investors, public policy makers and consumers
How ESG investment is accelerating and pushing investor demand for more ESG-related disclosure and data
How 2020 saw increased focus on social factors, including workplace safety and customer engagement
The regulations and societal concerns driving increased corporate and investor action on climate change, and
Recommendations for corporations on ways to effectively evolve their ESG approach.
Give the panel a watch in the video below and thank you to Hanson Search, who hosted the panel, along with FTI Consulting. You can read more about the event on the Hanson Search blog here.
Thumbnail picture credit: Nautitus