There has been a disruption in ecosystems caused by the novel coronavirus. Situations have been unpredictable, with industries, geographies, and operational models affecting organizational exposure in unique ways. In challenging economic times, companies with an agile and transparent system have been able to reshape and realign their operations. This highlights why ESG is critical to business resilience. Efforts to integrate environmental, social and governance factors into business strategies are called ESG integration. A commitment to sustainability is essential for promoting ESG values and ethics among shareholders and stakeholders. In other words, ESG integration is the process of integrating environmental, social, and governance factors into investment analysis and decision making, in order to promote ESG practices.
“The 19th-century investors focused on returns, in the 20th
century investors focused on risks and returns and, in the 21st
century, the conversation has shifted to risk, return and impact.”
-World Economic Forum participant, 2015
Our step-by-step guide helps companies integrate ESG into their business through key phases:
a. Creating the Baseline:
- Setting the baseline, where management and employees of the company learn about ESG and its purpose and why it is important. It will create an awareness among employees that the world is shifting toward new normal.
- Setting the tone at the top for driving ESG practices
b. Materiality evaluation
- Identify, prioritise, and validate the most material ESG issues that the company should focus on to Getting optimise the use of resources.
c. Governance
- Strengthening the board/ senior executives’ oversight, initiative-taking management, and ongoing dialogue on ESG topics
d. Risk management
- Adopt a systematic approach to identify, assess, and respond to ESG-related risks in. business operations
e. Strategy
- Develop an ESG strategy that is guided by an overarching vision and mission of the company, and incorporate ESG into strategic planning
f. KPIs and targets
- Determine KPIs and targets to measure and evaluate ESG performance, with an aim to improve ESG performance in the short, medium, or long term.
g. Reporting and assurance
- Disclose the company’s ESG vision, strategy, and performance in different communications channels, e.g., annual ESG reporting or website
- Engage a third party to perform independent assurance on ESG reports or ESG data, giving confidence to stakeholders on the credibility of the report and data