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January 27, 2021

Global Business Leaders Support Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Convergence by Committing to Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics.

• 61 business leaders, including members of the World Economic Forum and its International Business Council (IBC), have committed to the core Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics released by the IBC.

• Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics offer a set of universal, comparable disclosures focused on people, planet, prosperity, and governance that companies can report on, regardless of industry or region.

• The move signals that private sector leaders view environmental, social, and governance factors as critical to the success and long-term viability of all businesses, and a unified voice is gathering pace on a global solution for non-financial reporting.

Photo: Impressions from downtown at the Annual Meeting 2019 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 21, 2019. Image provided by & copyright © World Economic Forum / Walter Duerst.

Geneva, Switzerland January 26, 2021 - A growing coalition of 61 top business leaders across industries announced today their commitment to the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, a set of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and disclosures released by the World Economic Forum and its International Business Council (IBC) in September 2020, that measure the long-term enterprise value creation for all stakeholders.

The Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, drawn from existing voluntary standards, offer a core set of 21 universal, comparable disclosures focused on people, planet, prosperity, and principles of governance. They are considered most critical for business, society, and the earth, and that companies can report on regardless of industry or region. They strengthen companies and investors’ ability to benchmark progress on sustainability matters, thereby improving decision-making and enhancing transparency and accountability regarding the shared and sustainable value companies create, WEF elaborated.

These leaders and their organizations, including Dow, Unilever, Nestlé, PayPal, Reliance Industries, and Sony, have today committed to:

• Reflect the core metrics in their reporting to investors and other stakeholders (e.g., annual report, sustainability report, proxy statements, or other materials) by reporting on the metrics most relevant to their business or briefly explaining why a different approach is more appropriate.

• Publicly support this work and encourage their business partners to do so.

• Promote the further convergence of existing ESG standards, frameworks, and principles to support progress towards a globally accepted solution for non-financial reporting on standard ESG metrics.

In making these commitments, business leaders signify that ESG factors are increasingly critical to all businesses’ success and long-term viability. It reflects leading global companies’ intent to integrate sustainability into their core strategy, operations, and corporate disclosures.

“Stakeholder capitalism becomes now really mainstream,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. “The public commitments from companies to report not only on financial matters but also their ESG impacts are an important step towards a global economy that works for progress, people and the planet.”

“We have to deliver great returns for our shareholders and help drive progress on society’s most important priorities,” said Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO of Bank of America and Chairman of the International Business Council. “That is stakeholder capitalism in action. Common metrics will help all stakeholders measure the progress we are making and ensure that the resources capitalism can marshal - from companies, from investors, and others - are directed to where they can make the most difference.”

The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Bank of America, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, curated the set of 21 core and 34 expanded metrics over the past two years with the support of over 140 stakeholders.

The metrics include non-financial disclosures centered around the four pillars: people, planet, prosperity, and governance principles. Intentionally built on existing standards, the posts include metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, pay equality, and board diversity.

By adopting and reporting these metrics and disclosures, the business community will continue to catalyze greater cooperation and alignment among existing standards and encourage progress in developing a systemic, globally accepted set of common standards for reporting sustainability performance.

The full list of companies that have agreed to implement reporting on the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics includes:

1. Accenture
2. Adecco Group
3. African Rainbow Minerals
4. Allianz
5. Banco Santander
6. Bank of America
7. BBVA
8. Boston Consulting Group
9. bp
10. Clifford Chance
11. Credit Suisse
12. Dell Technologies
13. Deloitte
14. Deutsche Post DHL
15. Dow
16. Eni
17. Ecolab
18. Ecopetrol
19. Equinor
20. EY
21. Fidelity International
22. HEINEKEN
23. HP
24. HSBC Holdings
25. IBM
26. JLL
27. Kearney Inc.
28. KPMG
29. Mahindra Group
30. Majid Al Futtaim
31. Mastercard
32. McKinsey & Company
33. Medtronic
34. Mercuria Energy Group
35. Mitsubishi Corporation
36. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
37. Nestlé
38. Novo Nordisk A/S
39. Palo Alto Networks
40. PayPal
41. Publicis Groupe
42. PwC
43. Reliance Industries
44. Repsol
45. Royal DSM
46. Royal Dutch Shell
47. Royal Philips
48. Salesforce
49. Schneider Electric
50. Siemens
51. Solvay
52. Sony
53. Sumitomo Corporation
54. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG)
55. Suntory Holdings
56. Takeda Pharmaceutical
57. Total
58. UBS
59. Unilever
60. Yara International
61. Zurich Insurance Group

“Runaway climate change, environmental degradation, and social inequality are some of the biggest problems that the world faces,” said Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever. “Companies’ annual reports and accounts might not be the first mechanism for change that would spring to mind, but standardized and mandatory non-financial reporting is critical to creating a new form of capitalism that tackles these problems. The Forum’s IBC work is an important step forward, and we are providing our wholehearted support.”

The Davos Agenda is a pioneering mobilization of global leaders to rebuild trust to shape the principles, policies, and partnerships needed in 2021. It features a full week of international programming dedicated to helping leaders choose innovative and bold solutions to stem the pandemic and drive a robust recovery over the next year. Heads of state, CEOs, civil society leaders, and global media will actively participate in almost 100 sessions across five themes.

Source: World Economic Forum

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:54 AM | Link to this Post

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