ESG – PR Wire

24 Jul 23

Target flies into an unlikely marketplace and crash- lands packing a $10B loss in ten days. What are the lessons?

As pride month looms around the corner in the US, it’s the predicament of the seventh largest retailer Target (officially Target Corporation) that has become the latest siren call in a series of Brand martyrs on the altar of inclusivity. Target, the widely known retailer, is also well known for fashionable clothing. In keeping up […]

22 Jun 23

The oil that sustainability cannot do without for a clean energy future – Part III

● Sri Lanka’s FDI propositions Stronger ESG numbers in a country help spur investors towards it as they sustain their confidence. The World Bank’s ESG Data Portal is an online data platform and provides “sovereign-level environmental, social and governance (ESG) data” – meaning it provides country-by-country macro data on the three pillars of ESG-Environment, Social and […]

08 Jun 23

The oil that sustainability cannot do without for a clean energy future

● A case of hit & miss – The bag of Sri Lanka’s ESG numbers Stronger ESG numbers in a country help spur investors towards it as they sustain their confidence. The World Bank’s ESG Data Portal is an online data platform and provides “sovereign-level environmental, social and governance (ESG) data” – meaning it provides country-by-country […]

18 May 23

Greening the ESG greenbacks via the developing world’s rainforest

Was it the weak banking sector outlook alone spurring the investor sellout of ESG assets, causing the asset decline? Or did Credit Suisse particularly have a bigger play on ESG assets, unlike other banks? It did. Unlike other banks, Credit Suisse was a leading player in a (very) less known ESG asset class. This asset […]

08 May 23

How the Collapse of Credit Suisse Has Highlighted the Unsustainability of ESG, the Global Sustainability Figurehead

Recently, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, collapsed after more than 160 years of its historic existence. Credit Suisse’s unexpected demise sent shockwaves across the global banking structure and cast a dour shadow on the all-time renowned Swiss banking system as well. “Credit Suisse’s … willingness to engage with clients that some other banks avoided…lost billions […]

01 Feb 23

From CSR to ESG and then?

Back in the day, way before Sustainability or ESG concepts hit the mainstream, the ‘go to sustainability practice’ of many brands was Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In 1953, Howard Bowen (considered as the father of CSR) defined it as “the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those […]

20 Jan 23

FESG; the Materiality of Money

Materiality does not flow only along non-financial aspects such as “diversity”. Financial Materiality too is important and is now gaining rapid acceptance amonginvestors who assess ESG performance. If an issue can impact the company’s financial performance, such an issue is a Financial Material Issue. A hefty, regulatory fine for ‘corporate misbehavior’ could be considered as […]

10 Nov 22

What kind of material is your ESG declaration made of?

ESG has grown to such a level, it’s now emerging as a measure of compliance. In being such a tool of compliance, ESG has created quite a stir among companies. Even the term ‘stir’ does not explain the high-stakes here. According to Ernst & Young, the ESG friendly fund flows projected by 2025- “Projected assets […]

03 Nov 22

When ESG meets Sunlight soap… going beyond the social license

While there are advantages in switching to ESG (such as being a good corporate citizen and attracting consumers), there are also real gains when ‘going ESG’. The real gains are tangible and measurable and takes the brand beyond the ‘good’ social license. Unilever, whose brands – Ben & Jerry’s, Vaseline etc- are household names, discovered […]

29 Sep 22

Consumers switching to sustainable products is the way to go, but there’s a big catch

We ‘as customers’, increasingly crave for products made in a sustainable way. More and more customers appear to switch brands based on sustainable production practices. A 2022 study by First Insight and the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that two-thirds of consumers would pay more for sustainable […]