ESG Performance Management - Treeni

Last week I met a good friend for breakfast, after that he was to spend the rest of the day in a leadership workshop with a global industrial enterprise, on business strategy, innovation and digital transformation. I asked him if he ever met executives that wanted to talk sustainability, sadly he responded that he rarely did. This reminded me of another conversation with a friend who was recently at WEF in Davos, representing a company respected for their ability to partner with innovative companies around key business initiatives. He had also shared that the CEOs he met at Davos didn't particularly want to talk about sustainability. This got me thinking, people are fatigued with the endless talk of sustainability and the seemingly limited framework or are approaching it the wrong way. For most enterprises sustainability has meant energy efficiency programs and writing sustainability reports, reports that very few people read and care about. This process is effort intensive, manua...

  Investigating how sustainability directly impacts financial performance Most decisions in business are directly or indirectly linked to the finances of the company. While many lines of business and business practices can easily be linked to the revenues and the bottom line, sustainability is a function that has a powerful effect on the long-term success of the business, but the benefits are not apparent in the short term. A substantial body of research from academic institutions like the University of Oxford and financial institutions like Deutsche Bank confirms that ESG factors are correlated with superior risk-adjusted returns and better operational & stock performance. ESG considerations in investment valuations and assessments can be linked to the building of sustainable competitive advantage and a positive societal impact. ESG risks are broad-based and cover major aspects of business operations. They include risks related to climate change, environmental management pract...

The concept of Circular Economy promises a new way of doing business. Such a framework provides very innovative perspectives to various industries. Currently it is a challenge. It may seem unattainable. But over a period of time, it can be seen as an emerging opportunity, as a secure and more profitable way of doing business, with the designs, biological and technological cycles sorted out. As the future unfolds, the circular economy appears to be a solution. It is amply clear that the business success of tomorrow will come with only a focused & collective push towards a single goal. Across the world, community action has driven change, and it seems to be the case this time as well. Especially when it comes to sustainability, the entire value chain must be mobilized; from policy makers to business leaders, to the last person in the chain. We have already seen positive action through our S4B events, and we took the conversation on to a public platform to spark more discussion. Mr. A...

ESG as a concept is still evolving, hence understanding of ESG, i.e., Environment, Social, and Governance, is yet to occur. However, undoubtedly the past year has been disruptive and concerns around climate change and the environment have united us in more ways than one. COP26 was one such event that helped people to come together and protest about climate while putting the environment and sustainability on center stage. This in turn has led businesses to act with immediate actions; yet, there is a need for more action to be taken for major societal and global change. A growing number of listed conglomerates are incorporating ESG strategy within their annual report to track and illustrate corporate progress on key issues. We must still acknowledge the fact that it is no longer about the results of the bottom line. For the change to be more realistic, there needs to be a deeper understanding of the Environment, Social, and Governance. Businesses need to embrace ESG as a corporate initi...

 Sustainability needs to come from inside the heart and soul of a company, and not just a forced reporting function It is true that sustainability reporting has become increasingly prevalent amongst Indian companies. While the top 100 listed companies, as per market cap, are mandated to, under section 32(2)(f), to include a business responsibility report in their annual reports by SEBI, there are companies voluntarily reporting on sustainability due to pressure from their stakeholders and global customers. It is great to see the increase in awareness of sustainability reporting amongst Indian companies, but isn’t reporting only a functional task, and shouldn’t the more important and imperative need be the focus of companies on sustainability? Even SMEs and mid-size companies are understanding the need for sustainable reporting owing to stakeholder and customer pressures, but for the true impact of a sustainable approach, it is not the reporting which is key, but the approach toward...