Sustainability is key to PPE business
For corporations to be sustainable long term, environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) are of a heightened concern. This ensures business alignment with proper treatment of the planet, equitable and fair workplaces, and transparency in practices.
Sustainability has been proven to be financially successful and ethical. Global sustainable investment stood at more than $30 trillion at the start of 2018, a 34 percent increase in two years, found the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.
What is ESG? The Environmental dimension (E pillar)
The E pillar in ESG stands for environmental criteria. This pillar relates to how organizations and businesses measure, commit and act to reduce their environmental impact and develop sustainable offers. This includes how efficiently a company uses energy sources and how it discards waste and emits polluting gasses across its entire value chain.
This pillar works to promote conscious consumption of resources, biodiversity preservation actions, and lower greenhouse gasses emissions that cause climate change. The environmental dimension also works to minimize the use of non-renewable natural resources and the impacts of harmful environmental practices, such as deforestation.
The Social dimension (S pillar)
The S in ESG represents the social dimension of responsibility. This pillar ensures fair and equitable treatment of people and transparency of business practices. Topics like human rights, diversity and inclusion, employee engagement, workforce training, and labor policies fall under this pillar. The social dimension supports the rights and safety of employees, including making sure that workplaces are fair and ethical.
The Governance dimension (G pillar)
The Governance dimension, the G of ESG, is about how a corporation is managed by leadership, management and partners. This pillar ensures independence of the board and proper structures of tax audit committees. Corporations are monitoring for complying with laws and meeting the needs of stakeholders.
Every pillar has ethics and transparency at their core. Governance monitors the relationship between senior management and other employees, as well leader remuneration policies. It looks at the diversity in boards of directors and means to prevent corruption, such as official complaint channels. It also encompasses transparency with consumers and society about business practices. This includes having more transparent and open relationships with communities and stakeholders involved in the production process.
