Sustainability Briefs

This article originally appeared in Chief Executive on January 24, 2023.

Most European countries went into a second lockdown in November. How will this lockdown impact economic growth, jobs and business confidence? The short answer is: milder than feared.

With government regulation lagging, technological outcomes depend on how businesses develop and apply them. It’s important that companies fill that gap by complementing their digital transformation journey with a governance arrangement that drives ethics and builds trust.

Companies conduct materiality assessment to identify, refine and assess potential environmental, social and governance issues which are sufficiently important that they should inform corporate sustainability strategy and reporting. The Conference Board surveyed 50 senior sustainability executives to examine the current trends of materiality practices.

Key trends related to the corporate disclosure of environmental and social practices—encompassing, among others, atmospheric emissions, water consumption, biodiversity policies, labor standards, human rights practices, and charitable and political contributions.

India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory, following an amendment to the Companies Act, which requires companies with a net worth above Rs 5 billion, revenues above Rs 10 billion, or net profits of Rs 50 million or more to spend 2 percent of net profits on CSR initiatives. The country has countless priorities that companies can look to for guidance on CSR initiatives.

Integrated reporting expands traditional thinking, with its predominant focus on financial capital (i.e., monocapitalist), by casting a wider net to assess how value is created across multiple capitals (i.e., multicapitalist).