Last year’s results of the global risk report of the World Economic Forum revealed that the biggest risks are all environmentally oriented followed by technological risks such as data fraud. A risk that was not as prevalent was infectious diseases and we are all well-aware of how this has changed in has impacted society and business. With the recent developments around COVID-19, businesses are challenged to be even more agile and forward looking in order to cope with today’s fast-changing environment.
Impact valuation is a systematic way of measuring the impact of the core activities of a company, to manage risks, optimise costs and seize opportunities, and goes beyond the customary reporting and informing. Finch & Beak has co-developed a framework for impact measurement that can serve as an ESG tool to embed sustainability into vital business activities.
As the world is in various stages of recovery from the impact of the corona virus, it becomes clear that while there is a ‘new normal’, companies are aiming to go back to business-as-usual as soon as possible. How does Covid-19 affect your company’s sustainability strategy and how should this be reflected in your materiality matrix? Should you discard your old matrix and rebuild from scratch? Should pandemics be featured in it? As is almost always the case in complex situations, the answer is: it depends.
The roots of global specialty chemicals company Royal DSM are as a Dutch state-owned coal mining company that started in 1902. The company’s future, however, is far removed from its past. DSM’s Strategy 2021 describes how the company plans to drive above-market growth through developing innovative solutions addressing Nutrition & Health, Climate & Energy and Resources & Circularity, together with increased customer-centricity and large innovation projects. In this article, DSM’s approach is decomposed by looking at the elements of its sustainability strategy, and we provide tips how to replicate this.
ESG index funds are proving to be more crisis-proof than their less sustainable peers: with the average ESG fund falling by a mere 12.2% in 2020, almost half the decline of the S&P 500 according to Bloomberg. With the 2019 net money flows into these funds estimated to have almost quadrupled compared to 2018, companies are well-advised to advance their ESG performance. To help you do just that, this article provides four elementary questions and gives access to a newly launched online self-assessment, the ESG Acceleration Scan.
Impact measurement and valuation bring sustainability into the arena of strategic decision making, as it enables companies to manage risks, optimise costs and seize opportunities. However, many executives do not yet understand what impact valuation means, or fail to recognise its application beyond a theoretical exercise for reporting. In partnership with PRé Sustainability, this webinar explains the potential that the approach brings for integrating environmental and social impacts into business cases and strategic planning.
To really make changes based on sustainability information, companies need to know how to value that information. Today, top management of two sustainability consultancies – Eric Mieras of PRé and Jan van der Kaaij of Finch & Beak – share their united vision of the way forward.
On the 12th of November, SAM conducted its fourth webinar on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2019 results. This webcast zoomed in on the criterion of Sustainable Finance which was introduced to the 2019 assessment for the banking, diversified financial services, and insurance industries. The criterion replaced the former criteria Business Risks & Opportunities and Controversial Issues, Dilemmas in Lending & Financing. Download our free summary of the highlights in the attachment of the article.
Due to continued growth, Finch & Beak is currently searching for a Junior Consultant Sustainable Business to join our team in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. If you are passionate about accelerating corporate sustainability performance and are looking to develop sustainability as an essential part of business, we would love to meet you!