The EU Commission has committed to several climate and energy targets for 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement. The challenge for many businesses now is how to specifically contribute to these targets by delivering against measurable goals of their own.
As this important initiative develops, we are witnessing corporations, governments, non-profits, and individuals struggle to change their business and operating models to address systematic risks threatening our future. This cuts across industries and regions, and aligns behind a common vision for long-term, sustainable prosperity.
Balancing short-term performance pressures with long-term investment is one of the most important tasks a modern leader faces. Those that achieve it will contribute to a sustainable ecosystem in which companies and stakeholders will thrive. Sustainable leadership begins with businesses caring about their operational footprint. They must be open with environmental commitments and disclosures, hold each other to account, and promote a culture of transparency and inclusion.
Leaders who have already taken this step are witnessing a business shift that is also proving financially successful and profitable. They are becoming environmental, social, and governance (ESG) conscious not only because it is the responsible thing to do, but because it is also good business.
Over 250 new companies have already signed up to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment in 2017, representing a further $82tn of managed assets, in a growing trend of responsible investing becoming ever-more mainstream.
Research shows that over one, three, and five-year periods, companies making investments focusing on ESG metrics deliver a stronger stock performance and better long-term profitability. Large-cap companies with the highest ESG rankings also tend to have consistently lower future-price volatility than poorly ranked competitors.
We have seen leaders turn this insight into action through a variety of measurable commitments, including: being carbon neutral; being powered by 100% renewable energy; reaching pay parity; embracing diversity, and creating more inclusive workforces.
At Refinitiv, we help our customers become sustainable leaders by providing the data, analytics and tools necessary to enable measurable action, with one of the richest ESG databases in the industry.
Open, standardised ESG data is fundamental to achieving industry and business goals: as investment criteria, as corporate performance indicators, or as a driver for sustainable investing.
Refinitiv believes that by providing and using independent, trusted and transparent data, we as an industry can drive real, positive impact on a global scale.
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