We currently live immersed in a world where endless social, environmental and economic situations are visible that keep us on constant alert; With everything we see in the news every day—and not just that, but also what we experience in our daily lives—do we really believe the world is becoming a better place?
If we consider issues such as gender inequality, human rights, climate change or war conflicts, the most likely answer is no. However, according to various reports on technology and advances in health issues, the world is showing certain improvements.
However, according to a report by the UN and the Inter-American Development Bank, from 2010 to date, global conflicts have tripled, just as the number of deaths in combat, civilian casualties and the flow of refugees and displaced persons, which have increased considerably.
And with this I would not like you to think that I am a fatalistic person, however, it is just because of these types of circumstances and because I believe that there are companies and governments that want to do things well, which, for more than 15 years, I have found working on these issues.
Today, numerous national and international stakeholders recognize that ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) factors are increasingly essential in operations and for attracting capital to businesses. However, not all of us are aware of what these efforts entail and everything that has to be done so that they become part of the DNA of the companies and a fundamental change can be generated, but, above all, in a sustainable way. in time.
These topics have been so important in the way we do business, and have come so far that to date 80% of the 250 largest companies in the world actively issue Integrated Reports (1).
(1) Preparation of financial and sustainable reports; That is to say, they not only have to do with the financial performance of the company, but are also reported as core topics of the document: the social, labor, environmental and corporate governance performance of the company.
In the same way, currently more than 3,100 investors and investment funds around the world have begun to base their investment decisions on ESG criteria. Which has led to the level of green bond debt increasing from $250 million dollars in 2018 to more than $700 billion dollars in 2020.
ESG issues are still undergoing important and constant evolution due to the needs and demands of national and international markets and the need to make businesses more resilient in the face of current problems. In such a way that these issues have involved more and more actors and require that these issues be addressed transversally within organizations, translating into a 100% approach to risk management, permanence and value creation.
With all this, we could say that ESG issues go beyond just giving money to a community, but that a strategy related to the business, its resilience and therefore its sustainability must also be created; where it is necessary to have the correct tools to achieve this, among which are the people, the infrastructure and, above all, the real conviction that something is being done about it and that companies (in all their processes) are They are truly committed to all their stakeholders.
Added to all this is the urgency of the markets to integrate ESG issues into the operations of companies, which has led to companies sometimes being more reactive than strategic on these issues, and starting their implementation without for reasons of conviction and strategy or because it will really generate financial benefits in a sustainable way by making them more resilient to current and future problems.
With all this, it is important to mention that it does not matter if the company is private or public, this is already a requirement that every company must meet if it wants to have a good reputation, guarantee greater efficiency and effectiveness of its processes to attract more investments and /or capital to the company, and perhaps for having the desire to do things well.
