Africa’s Mineral Wealth: Curse or Blessing?
Interviewed on CNBC on the outcomes of the Mining Lekgotla held in Johannesburg last week, the deputy chief executive of the South African Chamber of Mines acknowledged that his industry still has much to learn in how it manages its employees and works with local communities. This was a bold statement from the executive of […]
G4 and IR1: Updated Comparison
An updated Comparative Table (click here) on the core requirements of the Integrated Reporting Framework (IR1 – Consultation Draft) and the G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines is now available, based on the final version of the G4 launched by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) on 22 May. Using the structure of the IR1 as point of departure, […]
G4 and IR1 compared: Time to align forces
How does G4 and IR1 compare? How do they complement each other? A comparative analysis is now available (click here – Comparative Table), highlighting extracts from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s G4 that logically link with the latest International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) requirements. It also serves to address some myths and four key messages […]
Natural Capital: Gaining Currency with Integrated Reporting
Natural Capital may be priceless, but it is due to increasingly make its way into the annual reports of corporations world-wide. Consider Natural Capital at Risk – The Top 100 Externalities of Business – published last month by the TEEB for Business Coalition in the same week that the IIRC published a new draft of its Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework. Its […]
Sign of the times: ESG Products & Services
Recent banking scandals have raised interest in corporate governance and organisational culture as make-or-break features of what makes a responsible financial institution. These can also be found in a longer list of sustainability expectations of financial institutions that have crystallised over the last two decades. In my work with Incite we have identified the ten […]
Basel III and ESG: What’s on the table?
Rescue packages and financial regulation remain in the headlines. Seeking to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis of early 2008 onwards, the Basel III requirements have zoomed in on the capital adequacy (capital buffers), leverage ratios and market liquidity (reserves) of banks. Introduced by the Basel Committee’s 27 member countries and others as of […]
Are banking values bankrupt?
It has of late become significantly less glamorous to admit that you work in the banking sector. The banking crisis of 2008 and ensuing world financial crisis have been accompanied by a series of scandals and shocks involving major banks. Think HSBC and drug cartel money, Barclays and Libor, Wegelin and tax evasion. The latter, […]
Sizing ISO 26000 two years later
Let’s face it, “social responsibility” (SR) is complex. When SR experts and representatives from national standards bodies world-wide met in Geneva this week to discuss progress in the use of ISO 26000, a common concern raised by representatives of small businesses was that the standard is “too complex”. One representative of SMEs in Europe went […]
We Want Green Jobs
When Apple launched the iPhone 5 this month, one message was clear: “Leaner and Smarter”. This is a motto that excites many in Government today, amidst attempts to speed up economic recovery and design ways towards leaner and smarter economies. Governments world-wide are under severe pressure to create jobs (the likes of Steve and others), […]
Stick the environment where it belongs – on the balance sheet
Last month 37 chief executives of banks, investment funds and insurance companies signed up to a Natural Capital Declaration. It recognises the relationship between biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and business risk. Its launch signalled another step forward in a slow revolution that is underway in our management of environmental affairs. No longer is the environment […]