Environmental, Social & Governance Briefs

With, among other things, the embrace of corporate purpose, ESG, and long-term investment strategy by BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard; the adoption and promotion by the World Economic Forum of The New Paradigm; and the introduction of legislation by Senator Warren to achieve stakeholder corporate governance by way of mandatory federal incorporation, it is clear that we are at a new inflection point in the development of corporate governance.

Build your community disaster-response strategy around your company’s core competencies. Your company has already developed strengths and knowledge in a specific area. Support a disaster-response strategy that aligns with that expertise to potentially save lives or lighten the burden of a disaster. Case in point: Airbnb is offering free lodging to people fleeing Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas.

Early and enduring investment by companies is critical to reconstruction and redevelopment of areas hit by disaster. Thirteen years after Hurricane Katrina struck, communities, nonprofits, and companies can now draw on the lessons of long-term engagement in disaster response. For example, collaboration and knowledge sharing are important to developing a comprehensive long-term response to redevelopment.

Following a volatile year in which threats to federal funding for the arts dissipated, businesses have shown a steadfast commitment to contributing financial and in-kind resources to support the sector. This is one of the key findings from the forthcoming Business Contributions to the Arts report, published by The Conference Board and Americans for the Arts. Join us on October 10 to hear more from the report and examples in practice from Charity Boutte, head of multicultural marketing at Aetna.

Cybersecurity governance and the broader issues around digital governance are emergent competencies in the corporate boardroom. Being proactive and building a coordinated enterprise approach to these issues is a good starting point and GR has a key role to play.

Existing company disclosure practices provide the foundation to implement the TCFD’s recommendations Precedent in oil & gas shows reporting at the level of the four principles (governance, strategy, risk, metrics) can be done. Reporting on the 11 specific recommendations will be more challenging, however, none of these are impossible to meet. Climate change is a systemic issue and investors need system-level data. Which means data from all listed companies and eventually the large private ones.

PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings and specialty materials. Its signature community program, Colorful Communities, is a ten-year commitment to bring the company’s paint and brushes, passion, and colorful commitment to the entire PPG footprint. In this Q&A, Bryan Iams, PPG vice president of corporate communications, marketing, and government and community affairs, discusses the company’s highly focused approach to corporate philanthropy.

Companies should carefully review the compensation arrangements of all individuals who were at any time serving as executive officers during the year and any proposed changes thereto in light of the new guidance in order to determine when the Section 162(m) deductibility limit may apply.