Debates & recent developments
How sustainability reporting plays out in our world. Click below to read our expert articles.
What is material to a sustainability report? How to see the wood from the trees
There has been much written about how materiality definitions for financial reporting fail to meet the needs for sustainability reporting.
Step back, assess, act: sustainability and the bigger picture for business
‘Sustainability’ as a strategic business imperative has gained momentum over the last decade to include varied critical factors, from office diversity to carbon footprints, stakeholder engagement to succession planning. While it will mean slightly different things to different businesses, sustainability’s core value is to give leaders a lens through which they can view the full picture.
The breadth of a sustainability strategy is, in fact, its strength. Bringing sustainability into the centre of a business boosts the bottom line, improves responsiveness to macroeconomic shocks and prepares it for the future of work. Why? Because, when done well, leaders will use sustainability as a temperature gauge – asking, what does my organisation look like today? Where are the gaps? And how can I tackle them?
The breadth of a sustainability strategy is, in fact, its strength. Bringing sustainability into the centre of a business boosts the bottom line, improves responsiveness to macroeconomic shocks and prepares it for the future of work. Why? Because, when done well, leaders will use sustainability as a temperature gauge – asking, what does my organisation look like today? Where are the gaps? And how can I tackle them?
Doing well and doing good: clearly communicating sustainability
Blackrock Chairman Larry Fink wrote in his 2020 CEO letter that climate change “has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.” It was a tipping point for sustainable investment and reaffirmed that sustainability has become one of the key business issues of our time.
Reshaping financial services: The role of ESG reporting
The time has come to take the business of sustainability seriously. Governments and businesses can no longer afford to focus on short-term gains to the detriment of longer-term sustainability. While many have suggested that we cannot afford to be ‘green’ in the current environment, we would suggest that the current Covid-19 crisis brings into sharp relief the need for better integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into business and government decision-making.