Sustainability Snacks with Sasha
Welcome to this fun, bite-sized, informative and as foodie-themed as possible blog written to support our lovely customers on your Sustainability journeys.
Let’s start at the very beginning…
Whether you love my favourite film ‘The Sound of Music’ or not, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start! When you read you begin with A-B-C” and in Sustainability it’s E-S-G. 😀
E – Environmental
S – Social
G – Governance
“E” is for Environmental: Nature is our life support system.
This is all about how a company performs as a steward of nature. In other words, is a company responsible for sewage leaks into rivers?
Or wasting paper on elaborate packaging? It’s great to see a lot more refills are available for soaps, instant coffee etc. with a lot less packaging.
Does your company integrate nature into its decision making?
I was really moved by this inspiring short video from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)*. (We are just getting started with all the Sustainability acronyms!😆 There are many!) Grab a cuppa, maybe a biscuit too, and enjoy.
It’s brilliant, isn’t it? We CAN make a difference!
Right, where were we? Ah yes…
“S” is for Social: This is how a company manages relationships with its employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which it operates.
Does it genuinely invest in and care for all the people in its supply chain, or, as in this example, do we find that exploitation and child labour are being used?
“G” is for Governance: This relates to how a company is managed by its senior executive leadership.
For instance, does a company have diversity and inclusivity in its leadership? Is it known to be ethical and transparent in its dealings with other companies, governments and consumers?
It’s been fascinating reading about the history of ESG, and how it became a key metric that investors use to measure how well a company addresses risks and concerns related to environmental, social, and corporate governance issues in its day-to-day operations.
A key inception point was at the United Nations in the early 2000’s. “’The goal of ESG investing’ was to try and create a positive virus that we could plant in mainstream finance and investment to start a different conversation that these issues are real, they’re material, and they affect your long-term investments,” said Paul Clements-Hunt, the former head of the U.N. Environment Programme Finance Initiative, or UNEP FI, which played a crucial role in popularising the idea.
The team had an ambitious idea: to mobilise the world’s largest investors to act on major global issues. The idea went that the priorities of the United Nations were actually aligned with the needs of long-term investors, insofar as a stable environment and stable world generally contribute to a more prosperous economy.
So, what is your company’s ESG score?
According to Investopedia, “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores are an essential tool for investors to assess a company’s sustainability and ethical performance. These scores typically range from 0 to 100, with a score of less than 50 considered relatively poor and more than 70 considered good.” It is interesting to learn more about the basics of ESG Scores and the main rating agencies.
I hope this has given you some food for thought.
If you would like to continue the conversation please email me.
Bon Appetit!
*The TNFD encourages business to assess their impact on nature, with recommendations and guidance to enable businesses and finance to integrate nature into their decision making.