Promoting and embedding ESG initiatives for the organisation, people and planet

The broader aims of the ESG agenda are not only to underline the governance practices in place within an entity but to demonstrate how it goes about its business in modern circumstances. For some, the whole concept of governance has always incorporated aspects of ethics, culture, accountability and sustainability. The ESG has made it more explicit that environmental and social factors are integral to good governance. This may be an agenda borne out of institutional investor interests but it has been embraced by a broad range of stakeholders with an interest in the ongoing viability of exponential economic growth and its impact on people, the planet and profits.

With a broad coalition of interests coalescing around the ESG banner, there are many reasons to support boards in developing their ESG understanding and decisions to improve relevant ESG-related activities.

The organisation

To fully integrate ESG-related initiatives into an organisation’s existing governance, risk, strategic and reporting activities, the board, executive team, staff and volunteers all need to be included. Research into stakeholders, including institutional and individual investors, concerns should be given due consideration and are likely to help identify those areas that the entity should prioritise and those that can be addressed later.

An ESG change delivery plan should consider concerns and incorporate:

• Long-term issues;
• Multi-generational desires and concerns;

• Analysis of the benefits (and potential risks) with aligned marketing and communications messaging or strategy;
• Wider support for future strategic, financial or operating plans, business models and forecasts.

In developing an effective ESG plan, the organisation will need to address several aspects at every level of the organisation’s operations and activities, seeking input from both internal and external parties and weighing the potential impact against regulatory and legal frameworks. Key questions to cover include (some of which have been discussed in other resources – insert links):

• What are the opportunities available to the organisation in pursuing an ESG agenda, monitoring and reporting strategy? What are the risks, and how can they be managed or mitigated?
• What is the scope of the organisation’s ESG ambitions? Does it intend to cover those issues directly relevant to its organisational purposes, or is there a strong case to be broader in its approach and potential activities?
• Are there strong financial incentives to adopt an ESG monitoring and reporting approach? What are they? Can they be quantified and included in budget planning?
• What is the value proposition for the organisation, investors, shareholders, customers/clients, staff and volunteers, suppliers and other stakeholders of adopting ESG targets and reporting?
• What is the strategic difference the organisation will derive: sustainable advantage; organisational capability; improved ability to recruit and retain talent; more effective achievement of organisational purposes; stronger public trust and confidence in the organisation; increased investment or sales?
• What are the key milestones for each ESG initiative or activity, and what is the likely impact on the business? What information does the board currently have to inform metrics and monitoring?

The following table provides examples of how an organisation can navigate the ESG debate with suggestions, actions and activities.

Shareholders and stakeholders

It is likely that any organisation will have a range of stakeholders with competing interests and demands as to how an organisation should fulfil its stated aims and undertake its activities. Stakeholder engagement can be a source of innovation, identifying future opportunities and potential new partnerships. The same will be true for specific ESG considerations, most notably climate change concerns. If not already undertaken, an organisation wanting to report on specific and relevant ESG matters in a meaningful manner for its shareholders and stakeholders will need to know:

• Who its ‘top’ investors/shareholders/stakeholders are, possibly for each specific ESG activity or issue
• What type of investors/shareholders/stakeholders the organisation would like to attract (more of)
• How the organisation has previously engaged with key stakeholders to ascertain what their interests are
• How effective that engagement has been
• If the organisation’s reporting of relevant ESG factors reflects the needs of its stakeholders (frequency, format, messaging, etc.).

Publicly reporting an organisation’s ESG metrics (such as reporting on CO2 emissions, use of virgin resources and renewable energy, recruitment and talent management approaches, stance on modern slavery in supply lines, etc.) can help inform and strengthen internal reporting systems, along with articulating the stance the organisation takes on a range of ESG activities and factors. With clear links between strategic goals, business models, risks, resilience, opportunities, operational indicators and financial performance, the board can identify and manage risk and evaluate and measure success. An ESG report can also identify future challenges and opportunities.

An externally assured audit or report for all or parts of the organisation’s ESG activities, is even more likely to generate trust, credibility and recognition for the organisation compared to one that is internally validated. However, there will be a cost attached to an external audit exercise which may not be proportionate to the work, resources and reputational assets of the organisation.

ESG reporting should take a format that shareholders and/or stakeholders want to see, not necessarily what is most convenient for the board or the executive team to produce. That may mean delivering key messages in different formats, via multiple channels for various audiences. For example, the report could be a standalone document, a standard financial report with additional information about material environmental, social or governance factors, an integrated report, or an impact report. Regardless of the final format chosen, there are important principles that should be applied:=

Ultimately, any publicly available ESG report should be an honest view of the organisation’s progress in the chosen ESG areas to be addressed. This should treat success and failure openly to produce a ‘warts and all’ account. An honest report will generate more supportive discussion and rapport, which may, in the future, guard against more negative interactions with key shareholders and stakeholders.

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