On Thursday 28th April, Age of Light Innovations is hosting its latest webinar in the Drivers for Change series. We’ll be talking about ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) strategies and why this latest piece of alphabet soup is a coming thing. As you browse the financial pages of your quality daily newspaper, you’ll see ‘ESG’ mentioned regularly in reports on business activity – and its interesting to see what’s underpinning this shift.
According to Trillium Asset Management, who has around $5 billion under management using ESG criteria, the funding landscape has shifted. This has been caused, in part, by recent scandals among some previously well-respected industry leaders. Not to put to fine a point on it, companies using ESG criteria are a safer bet for where you put your money. So it’s not just about doing good for the planet and those who live on it, it’s about protecting your profit projections.
These are the kind of company activities that Trillium considers as positive ESG criteria:
Environment
- reporting on carbon production and sustainability activity
- actively limiting pollutants and chemicals
- seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- using renewable energy sources
Social
- operating an ethical supply chain
- supporting LGBTQ+ rights and encouraging diversity
- has policies protecting against sexual misconduct
- paying fair wages
Governance
- embracing diversity in the company boardroom
- employing a CEO that is independent of the board chair
- embracing corporate transparency
One might suggest that any company worth its business salt would look at these criteria and think ‘you mean not everyone already does this??’; but it appears that the world is an altogether grubbier place. Investors have been caught out and recognise the need for better protection when they commit their funds. Who can blame them? And if it helps to reinforce a better way of doing business and surviving on this good earth, then let’s get behind the programme.
Why does this matter to the lighting industry?
All the time, we need to come back to this question; why do we need to care? We just sell (and specify) lights. I’d refer to all of the above and, in particular, the very first word – ‘reporting’. Because when they talk about an ethical supply chain, we can think of that as being an absolute reflection of the activity of an ESG-active business. Whatever the company is doing, they will expect us to do the same – and we WILL need to report on our behaviour if we’re to get the opportunity for even a sniff at a tender.
We’ve been talking about this for a decade and more and this can of worms has been kicked down the road for too long. Its time to get out heads around what it means in practice.
Drivers for Change: Environmental, Social and Governance reporting
The webinar, from Age of light Innovations, takes place from 16:00 – 17:30 on Thursday 28th April.
You can book your place HERE
Our team of expert commentators:
Amy Brachio: Partner, Global Deputy Vice Chair Sustainability, Ernst and Young
Graham Edgell: Director of Sustainability and Procurement, Morgan Sindall Group
Penny Goodall Quraishi: Director EMEA region, International WELL Building Institute
Florence Lam: Arup Fellow, Global Lighting Design Director, Arup
Helen Loomes: Innovation | Akademie, Trilux Group
Hosting:
Shelley James: Age of Light Innovations
John Bullock: The Light Review
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