Top 10 ESG Organizations Making an Impact
- armentib
- Jan 17, 2022
- 3 min read
Everywhere you turn corporations and investment managers alike are touting their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agendas, accomplishments, and goals. While commendable, it has become increasingly challenging to understand:
· How they Align with stakeholder and shareholder objectives,
· How to Measure and Report progress, and
· How to establish and enforce Accountability.
While there are many organizations trying to gain industry consensus to build a standard ESG framework to address these core concerns there are some making more progress than others. In this article, we provide a list of the Top 10, “Must Know”, organizations that are helping to achieve a sustainable future.
1. United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) - Launched in 2000, the UNGC is a collaboration between leading companies and the United Nations. With over 8,000 corporate signatories globally, signatories agree to adhere to the ten principles, derived from broader global standards such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The UNGC has provided investors with a helpful set of principles to assess and engage with companies, as well as directly aided companies in becoming more sustainable.
2. Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) – Formed upon the merger of Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). The VRF strives to provide investors and corporations with a comprehensive framework across a full range of value drivers and standards.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) - The SASB issues standards that are focused on the key material sustainability issues that affect 70-plus industry categories. These, along with the SASB materiality maps, are particularly helpful for investors determining what is material for reporting, and aid more standardized benchmarking.
https://www.sasb.org/
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) - An organization encouraging companies to produce integrated reports, which unite financial and ESG considerations in a single document.
3. Carbon Disclosure Project - A nongovernmental organization (NGO) that supports companies, financial institutions and cities to disclose and manage their environmental impact. It runs a global environmental disclosure system in which nearly 10,000 companies, as well as cities, states and regions, report on their risks and opportunities on climate change, water security and deforestation.
4. Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) - An international consortium of business and environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the mission to create the enabling conditions for material climate change and natural capital information to be integrated into mainstream reporting.
5. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) - The GRI publishes the GRI Standards, which provide guidance on disclosure across environmental, social and economic factors for all stakeholders, including investors. Used by organizations worldwide, the GRI framework is among the most well-known.
https://www.globalreporting.org/
6. Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) - The GIIN focuses on reducing barriers to impact investment by building critical infrastructure and developing activities, education and research that help accelerate the development of a coherent impact investing industry.
7. Task Force on Climate–related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) - The Financial Stability Board’s TCFD is a market-driven initiative developed to establish and recommend a general framework for identifying, assessing and reporting climate-related financial disclosure.
TCFD focuses on four key areas:
1. Governance: the organization's governance around climate-related risk and opportunities.
2. Strategy: the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risk and opportunities on the organization's businesses, strategy and financial planning.
3. Risk management: the processes used by the organization to identify, assess and manage climate-related risks.
4. Metrics and targets: the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities.
https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/
8. Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) - The IIGCC is the European membership body for investor collaboration on climate change. With over 240 members, IIGCC works to support and help define the public policies, investment practices and corporate behaviors that address the long-term risks and opportunities associated with climate change.
https://www.iigcc.org/
9. International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) - The ICGN is an investor-led organization established in 1995 to promote effective standards of corporate governance and investor stewardship to advance efficient markets.
https://www.icgn.org/
10. Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) - Many countries have a national forum for responsible investment. The GSIA is an international collaboration of these membership-based sustainable investment organizations. It is a forum itself for advancing ESG investing across all regions and asset classes.
Source Info: CFA Institute, Organization Websites