Everything You Need to Know About ESG

ESG has been gaining momentum for some time due to increasing demands from employees, investors, and customers. All three groups have shifted from a passive to an active stance, urging companies to take action against climate change and social injustice. This united pressure is driving companies to step up their ESG efforts and become more sustainable and socially responsible.

What exactly is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It is a framework used by investors and companies to evaluate the sustainability and ethical impact of investments or business practices.

• Environmental factors include a company's impact on natural resources and climate change.
• Social factors include human rights, labour practices, and community engagement.
• Governance factors include the quality and effectiveness of a company's leadership and management practices, including transparency and accountability.

By considering these factors, ESG analysis seeks to identify potential risks and opportunities for long-term value creation and sustainable growth.

Why is ESG important?

Risk management: Incorporating ESG factors into investment and business decisions can help mitigate risks, including reputational risks, regulatory risks, and operational risks. By considering environmental and social risks, investors and companies can better assess potential financial risks and identify opportunities for sustainable growth.

Long-Term Value Creation: ESG factors are increasingly seen as important drivers of long-term value creation. Companies that prioritise ESG considerations are more likely to be sustainable and profitable over the long term, as they are better positioned to identify and adapt to emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities.

Stakeholder Engagement: ESG considerations are becoming more important to stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, and regulators. By prioritising ESG factors, companies can improve their relationships with stakeholders and enhance their reputation, brand, and overall trustworthiness.

Ethical and Social Responsibility: Incorporating ESG factors into investment and business decisions can help ensure that companies operate in a socially responsible and ethical manner. By prioritising ESG factors, companies can demonstrate their commitment to the environment, social justice, and good governance.

Overall, ESG is important because it provides a framework for assessing the sustainability and ethical impact of investments and business practices. By incorporating ESG factors into decision-making processes, investors and companies can better manage risks, create long-term value, engage stakeholders, and demonstrate social responsibility.

Where do I start to develop an ESG strategy?

To develop an ESG strategy tailored to your company's needs, there are three essential considerations to keep in mind.

Firstly, stay updated on ESG regulations and reporting standards relevant to your business to ensure compliance. Secondly, identify and prioritise stakeholders based on how your operations affect them, and take action to address any issues of concern. Lastly, develop a roadmap and framework that outlines your company's goals, milestones, and strengths, creating accountability for critical initiatives and generating stakeholder buy-in.

A clear and comprehensive ESG framework can unify your company and bring long-term benefits to its sustainability, staff productivity, and financial performance.

Find out more here - A beginner's guide to developing your company's ESG strategy.

Embedding Sustainable Procurement at G4S

Jon Willescroft is CPO for G4S – part of the world’s largest security company - and it’s his job to drive meaningful, sustainable change

Embedding sustainability and ESG is the goal....with sustainability and ESG initiatives – digitally-driven or otherwise – Willescroft believes the danger is that “you stick stuff on to existing processes and then it just falls apart”. Embedding, he stresses, is key.?

“How do we do that? By making sure that, at a functional level, ESG and sustainability are a core part of how we are measured and how our objectives are measured. This way, everything flows all the way down to individual objectives.”?

Only by constantly talking about sustainability and ESG does Willescroft believe you can fully embed them into a business. He also points to the importance of having clarity on priorities.

Find out more here

In the spotlight this week, Rob Doepel from 安永

Sustainability Magazine interviews?Rob Doepel , 安永 ’s UK Managing Partner for Sustainability, to hear what’s new for the major consultancy.

The thing that has pleasantly surprised me, if you like, is the willingness of organisations to collaborate with direct competitors to tackle some of the sustainability challenges that they face.

Find out more here

Diageo Partners with Sa?d Business School, University of Oxford to Train Leadership Team on ESG, Aligning with Society 2030 Plan

Diageo , a leading global alcoholic beverages company, has announced its partnership with the Sa?d Business School at the University of Oxford to launch a program focused on promoting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. The program, entitled "Building ESG Competence in the Boardroom," aims to provide executive education for board members and executives on ESG-related issues and how to incorporate ESG into their decision-making processes.

This partnership highlights the growing importance of ESG practices in the business world, as evidenced by recent studies showing that companies with strong ESG performance tend to outperform their peers in the long term. This collaboration is expected to promote ESG practices across various industries.

Find out more here

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Our Top 100 Women in Sustainability list is almost here, and we want you to be the first to know!

By subscribing to our newsletter, you'll gain exclusive first-hand access to this prestigious list, showcasing the incredible women leading the way in sustainability.?Sign up here

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