Governance professionals in 2021 will be focusing their attention primarily on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters, remote working risk, climate change and diversity this year, according to a poll by ICSA: The Chartered Governance and governance recruitment specialist The Core Partnership. Of these, ESG is seen as the top priority, with the majority of respondents stating that it would be the biggest area of governance focus for 2021.

The Red Sea Project which is being developed on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast by The Red Sea Development Company took the award for ‘ESG Initiative of the Year’ at The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland’s 2021 Awards at the London Park Lane Hilton Hotel last night. The Awards, which were hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Dan Walker, recognise those individuals, teams, projects and initiatives that help organisations to better serve their stakeholders and society through innovative and exemplary governance.

An innovative approach to good governance of their regenerative tourism destination along Saudi Arabia’s west coast led to The Red Sea Development Project winning the 2021 CGIUKI ESG Initiative of the Year Award.

In light of COVID-19, annual reports are entering new territory. What are investors looking for? What does this mean for longer-term ESG and sustainability questions?

Combining a virtuous circle with a circular economy approach could potentially be beneficial for the organisation, its stakeholders, shareholders and the environment. It may also be one way of approaching the broader ESG agenda.

Improved ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) has been seen as a positive response to the crisis and as a means by which we can drive change in businesses for good.

In this podcast we are talking to Sharon Constancon, CEO of Genius Boards, about leadership in the boardroom.

In this podcast James Beasley, Senior Director at Nasdaq Governance Solutions, discusses stakeholder capitalism and its significance for businesses today. He argues that stakeholder engagement is the means by which to achieve stakeholder capitalism because it allows the business to understand different stakeholders and therefore act in their interests. James argues that the convergence of many monumental events over the last two years has brought stakeholder capitalism into the limelight and front and centre for boards. He outlines innovative methods for engaging with two important stakeholder groups: customers and employees. James argues that organisations need to develop more sophisticated data points for understanding stakeholders, focusing on qualitive rather than quantitative data to bring stakeholder experiences to life.

In this podcast Sharon Constançon, CEO of Genius Boards, discusses how to address issues that are impeding board effectiveness that aren’t always easy to identify. Sharon likens the scenario to an octopus, where all the issues are linked to a common cause, represented by the head of the octopus. She goes on to outline how enhancing the emotional quotient (EQ) of the company secretary, the chair and the individual directors will allow the board as a whole to defuse those hard-to-identify issues it faces and allow it to achieve its full potential.