The ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda has not been limited to isolated sustainability initiatives by companies. It may not yet be the majority globally, but a huge part of the corporate world seems to have understood what analysts have been saying for some time: ESG is not a marketing strategy, but a business strategy.
A study carried out by the Brazilian Association of Business Communication (Aberje) indicated that 95% of Brazilian companies have Environmental, Social and Governance topics as a priority in their corporate agendas. The report also shows that the area has been treated more strategically by organizations, and 67% of them have a formal structure responsible for monitoring and managing these issues — 51% report directly to the company’s CEO.
According to the survey, the covid-19 pandemic has boosted the sustainability agenda within companies: 58% of organizations that responded to the survey said the pandemic made them believe more strongly that becoming sustainable is important. For 62% of them, the goal is to have a tangible positive impact on society, while 24% hope to meet investor expectations.
Regarding obstacles to implementing ESG projects, limited funding was identified as the main difficulty by 35% of respondents. For 28%, the problem is the lack of uniformity in understanding the terms of sustainability among stakeholders and, for 27%, the main obstacle is the difficulty in measuring the performance and quantifying the benefits of projects.
—-
Source: Aberje