ONE OF THE BIGGEST TRENDS IN THE FINANCIAL WORLD IS THE RAPID ASCENT OF ESG ISSUES UP THE CORPORATE AGENDA. INCREASING PRESSURE FROM CONSUMERS AND GOVERNMENTS ALIKE IS PUSHING THE INDUSTRY TO ACT, WITH MAJOR INVESTORS LIKE BLACKROCK PRESSING COMPANIES ON A HOST OF ESG ISSUES, FROM HUMAN RIGHTS TO BIODIVERSITY AND DEFORESTATION. SIMULTANEOUSLY, VCS ACROSS EUROPE ARE NOW ROUTINELY ADDING ‘SUSTAINABILITY’ CLAUSES TO THEIR DEALS WITH STARTS-UPS THAT DEMAND A COMMITMENT TO A GREENER, CLEANER WORLD. These incentives – as well as legislation such as SFDR from the EU which imposes sustainability disclosure requirements on financial firms – means that, in order to attract investment, SMEs will soon need to present a clear and persuasive narrative around their sustainability bona fides and, crucially, have the data to back up such claims. Gathering, interpreting, and presenting all this information is a huge task, never mind identifying and leading sustainability initiatives to reduce a business’ environmental impact. As a result, many companies are finding they need to add a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) to their senior leadership team far earlier than anticipated.
