ESG / CSR management

“Business and finance are close to neutral tools,” says Solomon. “The values and purpose we put into them is what matters.” SVI events come with unusual ground rules. Solomon, a Vancouver impact investor who sat on Hollyhock’s board for 30 years, says SVI organizers personally select their attendees, ensuring that two-thirds come from for-profit businesses, one-third from not-for-profits. (They also throw in lawyers and accountants, because entrepreneurs can never have too many professionals on speed dial.) SVI also seeks a majority of women attendees. “We’re trying to feminize business a bit,” says Solomon. “We want to get away from the macho ruthless business model to a more collaborative one.” https://www.evernote.com/shard/s159/sh/b9ffbcf2-0342-41d5-be67-9634f599eb8b/90603cab0f7acb3dee794f2ebd1c3fa3

Six takeaways from the conference centre on Cortes Island that has been stirring up dissent and fuelling social entpreneurs

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

There is concern about the credibility of organisations’ accountability and governance oversight of SDG Disclosures. Reporting often focusses more on value creation and positive impacts rather than value destruction and negative impacts. The information disclosed is consequently of limited use to the organisation, its providers of finance and other key stakeholders. Lack of assurance and the limited scope (often limited to quantitative indicators) of many current assurance engagements is a further barrier to the information being used by investors in their capital allocation decisions. Maintaining documentary evidence adds credibility and robustness to the organisation’s approach to SDG Disclosures. Table 5 provides examples of evidence to give the Board confidence that the organisation’s: • approach to the SDGs is fully integrated into processes, policies and practices. • SDG Disclosures follow the Fundamental Concepts and Principles set out in this document.

ENHANCING THE CREDIBILITY OF DISCLOSURES

Driving Alignment in Climate-related Reporting

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

Investors are still struggling to find the information they need to compare companies on environmental, social and governance criteria.

ESG Investing is a term that is often used synonymously with sustainable investing, socially responsible investing, mission-related investing, or screening.

A BIG DATA APPROACH TO ESG: DELIVERING AN EXTENSIVE SET OF STANDARDIZED ESG DATA AND SIMPLE FLAGGED METRICS THAT ARE COMPARABLE ACROSS A BROAD UNIVERSE

Three ways to capture the data that matters. Summary. ESG measurement is an increasingly popular way of holding companies accountable when it comes to sustainability efforts, and of giving companies an incentive to improve them. But measurement, no matter how sophisticated, is much better at capturing easily quantifiable inputs than complex and messy outcomes and impacts. Companies need to do everything they can to understand those outcomes and impacts — and that requires doing more than just measurement. In particular, companies need to do three things: (1) zoom in to develop insights on processes, (2) zoom out to see broader systems, and (3) value curiosity and learning

Investors need a comprehensive understanding of key metrics of ESG factors in a portfolio. For example, a strategy that sought to own companies sourcing renewable energy would likely be relatively concentrated, whereas a strategy focused on low carbon emissions could consider that metric without sacrificing the option to achieve greater diversification. Additionally, a significant amount of ESG data on companies are self-reported, which leads to meaningful gaps in data availability; some ESG factors are not widely reported enough to sufficiently cover the universe of investable companies in a more diversified approach. For example, while 64% of S&P 500 companies report their carbon emissions, only 12% report the percentage of their energy consumption derived from renewable sources.3

As we face unprecedented collective challenges, cooperation has become a business superpower.

How we choose the companies: The Change the World list recognizes companies that have had a positive social impact through activities that are part of their core business strategy. As we assess nominees, among the factors that matter most are: 1. Measurable social impact We consider the reach, nature, and durability of the company’s impact […]

Enter ESG ratings. These offer a means for investors to rank companies against ESG criteria, to value performance on the sustainability scale. Exposure to ESG risk and management metrics are examined. Met more about it.