Unsurprisingly, we are facing a shift in ESG as investors seek to invest in companies that are able to navigate and provide solutions to an ever-changing list of challenges.
Louise Chaplin, Partner and Head of Eton Bridge Partners’ Board Practice and Louis Cooper, Chief Executive of NEDA, hosted a lunchtime webinar discussion, along with Vanda Murray OBE (Chair of the Board at Marshalls, Chair Designate at Yorkshire Water, Non-Executive Director, NED and Chair Remuneration and CSR at Manchester Airport Group (MAG), and Senior Independent Director at Bunzl), Rob Woodward (Chair of the Board at the Met Office, Non-Executive Director at OneWeb, Chair at Ebiquity, Chair at Blancco Technology Group plc, and Chair of Court at Glasgow Caledonian University).
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria can be viewed as operational standards which investors are now actively using to screen potential investments. At board-level they are also now seen to be essential considerations in terms of both strategic planning issues, and the management of critical business risks. A lot of emphasis is currently on the reporting process – but there needs to be better appreciation of actual and practical implementation, as well as how you bring these areas to life.
Environmental’ factors can help investors understand the sustainability and eco-friendliness of a potential investment, ‘Social’ criteria are concerned with diversity, equality, inclusion, as well as how a company manages its relationships with staff, customers and suppliers, and ‘Governance’ includes areas such as company leadership, executive pay, audit/ assurance, and attitude to risk.
Read the full summary of the discussion here.
You can listen to the full webinar recording here.