As you begin planning your company’s ESG goals for 2018, consider the below questions to help drive your priorities.
Did your company meet its 2017 ESG goals?
What measurement system(s) are you using to determine if the goals were met?
Did you use a Data Framework, ESG Standard, Rating, Ranking or Index as part of your ESG process?
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is defined by Financial Times as ‘a generic term used in capital markets and by investors to evaluate corporate behavior to determine the future financial performance of companies’.
In layman’s terms, ESG performance data is information used to manage material risk and performance associated with an investment, company or asset. The socially conscious investor will utilize ESG data in combination with financial health in determining the course of their future investment.
More and more investors are using ESG data when deciding where to deploy their capital. This data is sourced from service providers such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) – which holds the longest running global benchmark, reported to platforms such as GRESB or CDP – depending on the sector and focus, or published following guidelines such as GRI, SASB or PRI.
Below is an explanation of standard ESG terms including common usage and examples.
The following drawing depicts how each term relates to one another.
Whether you are new to ESG, an expert ESG practitioner, or looking to set your 2018 ESG goals, a good place to start is by answering the 3 questions at the top of this article.
This article is written by Julius Caten at Real Foundations.
Related insights
Articles
Embracing TCFD – Turning Crisis into Opportunity
According to TCFD’s 2019 Status Report released in June 2019, there is a growing demand for decision-useful, climate-related financial information by investors. There are likely many factors driving investor demand, ranging from European regulations requiring certain investors to disclose climate-related information to weather-driven events resulting in significant financial impacts and leading investors to seek better […]
Making your building ‘smart’ from the very beginning Residential developments are facing new challenges, with tenants expecting increased comfort and proven sustainability in the places where they live. At Nuuka, we recognize that urban consolidation is increasing in our cities. Wherever you look around the world, the ‘home of the future’ is most often a […]
By aligning on a common set of metrics, the industry can commit to validating both the health and financial outcomes of ESG investments within the built environment.