The San Diego Regional Green Business Network is an engaging resource for sustainability. I have benefited from this organization for several years. Most recently through a webinar on ESG.
I geek out over learning and this ESG webinar was no exception. In fact, I could hardly keep up with my brain. The ideas, thoughts and questions cascaded out of my head. I was unfamiliar with the term and eager to research it further. It was presented by thinkPARALLAX and hosted by the San Diego Regional Green Business Network.
The context construct, which was outside established principles at the time was “…to better integrate environmental, social and governance issues in analysis, asset management and securities brokerage.”
In 2004 under the charge of the UN Global Compact, the Financial Sector Initiative released Who Cares Wins, by Ivo Knoepfel. The data was compiled from over 50 CEOs and their thoughts on blending ESG and the capital market. The report suggests a connection between performance value and incorporating ESG in a business model.
In 2018, Febey Shintya wrote a thesis while attending Radboud University in The Netherlands, The Influence of a Sustainability Report on the Cost of Capital. Shintya concluded “…that a company which issues a sustainability report will experience lower cost of debt compared to a company that does not issue a sustainability report.”
One can posit there is value in environmental and social capital, suggesting motivation for corporate governance to evolve. If you find this interesting, I recommend you read both papers (linked above) they are certainly thought provoking.
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