The concept of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in the corporate world is not a simple repackaging of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
This was explained to delegates attending the hybrid 2024 Global Business Week Conference staged by BIBA, the Association for Global Business at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados on October 24 and 25.
In her comprehensive presentation on the subject matter, Lisa Howard, the Associate Director for ESG at CIBC Caribbean noted: “Oftentimes there is a perception that ESG is just CSR rebranded. But here with the move towards ESG, it’s really more of a focus on data and being data-driven and looking at the quantitative story and not just the qualitative story.”
Explaining how some key environmental and social events intersected with the evolution of ESG, Howard told delegates from around the world that in the face of events such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the decision of multinationals to disinvest and divest from companies involved in apartheid in South Africa, had shifted the focus to “requiring disclosure on these ES and G factors”.
Howard used an example of a real estate company to demonstrate that ESG applied to a cross section of corporates.
“As a real estate developer, what sort of corporate citizen are you being? Are you actually implementing a stormwater management plan or was that something that you just submitted to Town Planning and now that you’re actually in the construction phase, you’re flooding your neighbours’ [properties], and you’re becoming a nuisance, particularly during the hurricane season,” she offered.
She also reminded the executives that on the social side, employee compensation, engagement, philanthropy and volunteerism all had a place within the ESG space.
GBWC 2024 sponsors included Concorde Bank Limited, Seaco SRL, and VM Wealth Management Ltd.
The Global Business Week corporate backing included Diamond sponsor Invest Barbados; Platinum sponsor, the International Business Unit of the Ministry of Energy and Business; Gold sponsors were the Central Bank of Barbados, CIBC Caribbean Bank, and Nuvisual Media. The Silver sponsors were RBC, Lex Caribbean Attorneys-at-Law, Vistra (Barbados) Limited, EY Management, PWC East Caribbean, Scotiabank, Trident Trust, Clarke Gittens Farmer, and KPMG. (BIBA)
