Today, we find ourselves in one of the most disruptive periods in modern history. Public discussion about ESG has taken the backseat to surviving and getting through the COVID-19 pandemic. This podcast explores how corporate communications can support your company’s ESG initiatives, and how to use ESG to guide your company through the COVID-19 crisis response.

Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School Professor and author discusses her new book, ‘Reimaging Capitalism in a World on Fire,’ which explores why we need to, and how we can, build a more profitable, equitable, and sustainable capitalism.

Dottie Schindlinger from the Diligent Institute interviews with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the Environmental, Social & Governance Center at The Conference Board, about climate change, where it ranks as a priority for CEOs and Directors, and the potential impact of Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs and the Davos Manifesto on corporate disclosures and practices.

There are over 40,000 cases of coronavirus, concentrated in China, but the outbreak is now reaching over two dozen countries across the globe. A health crisis like this demands a government response, but what is the corporate response? Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s Environmental, Social and Governance Center, chats with a team of experts on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders worldwide are marshalling resources to respond to this health crisis.

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.

The Conference Board recently released its annual study on the state of corporate sustainability disclosure around the world. The research assesses environmental and social disclosure practices of the 250 largest publicly traded companies domiciled in each of the 10 largest economies (by GDP at purchasing power parity) in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. As we look to Asia, what are key trends in reporting practices across the region? Where do we see the biggest challenges ahead?

Research on corporate sustainability reporting finds that large U.S. companies, even in the absence of domestic nonfinancial reporting requirements, are more transparent than their peers in much of the world. Sustainability disclosure by U.S. companies is largely driven by pressure from stakeholders.