This article, titled “ESG no longer a choice, but a necessity, say CEOs at women’s summit,” is a summary of comments at the 2022 Global Summit of Women in Bangkok.

Key points:

• Covid has caused people around the world to demand social responsibility from companies that exploit resources from nature and advantages from society;
• ESG provides more advantages to boost profit and competitiveness than programs like CSR (corporate social responsibility);
• 74% of consumers are willing to spend on goods/services that comply with an ESG strategy, making ESG no longer an option, but a necessity for companies;
• Companies are adopting ESG due to demand from consumers, investors and regulators;
• Companies need to motivate staff to show mutual respect for the rights of others;
• A company’s sustainability responsibility does not stay inside the walls of the company, but includes the community the company serves.

If 74% of consumers are willing to spend on goods/services that comply with an ESG strategy, making ESG no longer an option, but a necessity….and for these bigger organizations to meet their sustainability/ESG/carbon neutral requirements, they need their vendors to also be sustainable….is this an opportunity for small to mid-sized enterprises?  And, if it is an opportunity, or necessity, is there a program that is affordable (both in money and time)?

Yes, it is an opportunity/necessity.  Large companies are required to use certified sustainable companies when available.  This is one of the reasons certified sustainable companies are growing 75% – 20x faster than their non-certified peers.

Yes, there is a program that is designed specifically for SMEs.  Here is a PPP to guide you.

Edenark Group, which offers an environmental sustainability certification program (the Edenark Group ISO 14001) internationally known for credible quality improvements, and Before3020, Inc., a global Public Benefit Corporation, a firm comprising of doctoral-prepared changemakers who engage with clients to create sustained financial and social outcomes for them by aligning their strategies and operations with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have formed a commercial partnership.

The two firms recognize the synergy between their respective services and will promote the other’s services to their respective clients.

Before3020, Inc. works with clients to implement the SDGs into their strategies and incorporate the SDGs into every facet of their operations to deliver sustained social and financial outcomes for these clients, such as better talent recruitment and retention, a more equitable workforce, more resilient supply chains, greater fundraising success with impact and ESG-driven investors, to name a few of our B2B2C services.

“As we engage with our clients to implement the SDGs into their strategies and operations, the Edenark Group’s world-leading ISO 14001 Sustainability Certification Program is a powerful designation and credible global differentiator that our clients, located across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, will benefit from, and therefore we welcome the commercial partnership with Edenark Group to broaden our services to our clients,” said Dr. Brooke Newman, CEO of Before3020, Inc.

“The Edenark Group ISO 14001 sustainability certification is a natural progression for an organization that seeks a higher ROI via brand and revenue-side gains added to the financial and social benefits achieved from Before3020, Inc.’s engagements”, said David Goodman, CEO of Edenark Group.  “Further, from our side, having a partner that can help our clients create sustained outcomes by implementing the SDGs into their strategy and operations is a critical component to our overall sustainability mandate,” added Goodman.

About Edenark Group

The Edenark Group ISO 14001 is the world’s premier environmental sustainability certification program and allows SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises) a program designed and priced specifically for them.  Edenark Group also helps clients pursue carbon neutrality and ESG compliance, using the Edenark Group ISO 14001 as a foundation for long-term compliance. Edenark Group can be reached at +1 561 512 2257

About Before3020, Inc.

Before3020, Inc. is a primarily women-owned and operated Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, comprising 12 doctoral-prepared change agents and a diverse advisory board for global sustainable development based in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company supports its clients with a full life-cycle (strategy to execution) offering to create sustained financial and social outcomes for them by implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals into every facet of their operations and evaluating the outcomes against relevant benchmarks, including Statistical Package for the Social Sciences reports. Before3020, Inc. can be reached at brooke@before3020.org

release

The Edenark Group ISO 14001 sustainability certification program is unique.

• First, we use the world’s top sustainability standard, the ISO 14001
• Then, our program is designed and priced specifically for SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises)
• Third, we help our clients promote their certification, to drive brand, revenue and ROI
• Fourth, we help our clients progress to carbon neutrality, net zero and ESG
• Finally, but certainly not last, given that we believe sustainability is more about people than LED light bulbs, we have an entire people-piece, that helps you and your employees become healthier, happier and more productive.

We’ve talked about our high-altitude EWOT (exercise with oxygen therapy) gym, named Gym For The Brain; and are very proud of the results our clients are reporting and enjoying.

Today, we are happy to launch our online store – A Better World Starts With Me™, which offers the products we are successfully using in Gym For The Brain.

We welcome you to visit the site and use the free, no-obligation questionnaire.  You can enter whatever performance-related item(s) you would like to improve on, and see what we recommend.  Even if you choose not to proceed with us, it will probably add information for you to consider.

Ultimately, regardless of how you become happier, healthier and more productive, we know that if you do, you will then want to do more for others; and we hope this will lead you to say, “A Better World Starts With Me.”

Per this CNN article, the Great Salt Lake is 19 feet below its natural level and has lost 73% of its water due to a climate-fueled drought.

If it does not receive an additional 326 trillion gallons of water per year, it will disappear within five years.

This may not directly impact your business or your family.  But events like this, all over the world, will.

Join our effort.  Choose to be part of the solution.

As we have reported, the new regulations that are being implemented around the world will ultimately impact all companies.  Some companies will be impacted immediately and others over time.

This article in CFO Magazine suggests you take these three steps to prepare

• Appoint a Chief Sustainability Executive
• Create an ESG policy budget
• Assess Partner’s sustainability practices

We appreciate the suggestions, but recommend against this direction.

First, take a breath.

Second, decide if you even want to jump right in to an ESG program.  We recommend you not going straight to an ESG program.  Our recommendation is to start with becoming certified sustainable, then add carbon neutrality certification, then ESG, and finally Net Zero.  This is typically both the easiest and the most profitable progression path. 

Third, if you agree with starting with sustainability, then read this PPP on the kind of program you might want to consider.

Fourth, if you follow the outline in the PPP, you will be forming a Green Team and your advisor will be assisting you with not only becoming certified but executing your go-forward plan.  That advisor and your Green Team will help you define your initial strategy; and with it, whatever budget you may initially need.  Further, out of that strategy will come a better understanding of if you need to hire a sustainability officer or if it would be better to delay that hire until you get a better idea of what you need in that position.  Like all hiring decisions, if you are not clear on the duties, the odds of the person succeeding will be low.  A year or two under a sustainability certification with your Green Team supported by your 3^rd party consultant will help you determine what you need in that role. 

As to addressing the sustainability practices of your partners (ie, vendors), you need to be certified sustainable before asking your vendors to do things you have not yet done.  Get certified sustainable before you pick up the phone and call your vendors. 

As to carbon footprint reduction, same as above.  Once you are certified sustainable and are comfortable with the progress of your program, move to carbon neutrality.  You will define your own carbon footprint, and determine the steps you need, per your sustainability plan, to become certified carbon neutral.  After that, you can call your vendors and discuss their carbon program, as you have already spoken with them about their sustainability program and their progression should mirror your progression. 

This is not hard.  This is not expensive.  But it can be, if you don’t follow the correct sequence.   

As reported by Edenark Group for some time, and as stated in this article, on November 28, 2022 the European Council gave final approval for a new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).  This will now be transposed into the laws of the EU member states.

The CSRD is meant to reduce Greenwashing and lay the groundwork for sustainability reporting standards at a global level.

Like most new laws, this one will take time to find its footing and impact.  However, it, and other similar policies around the world, will impact how every company operates.

To highlight a few selected aspects:

• The CSRD will widen both scope and depth of sustainability reporting by prescribing a double materiality standard under which companies have to explain both how their business models are affected by sustainability matters and how it affects such matters itself.

• While previous policy efforts concentrated predominantly on large companies with stock market listings, the EU’s focus has been widened to also account for sustainability related effects of large companies without stock market listings, as well as listed small and medium sized companies.

• Non-EU companies will also be affected. Their EU subsidiaries will have to comply with the new sustainability reporting obligations as early as 2025 if they have large company status and a stock listing on an EU-regulated market, and from 2026 if they have large company status and no such stock listing. Moreover, certain non-EU companies’ own sustainability efforts can become subject to reporting obligations as of 2029.

The United States is up next and should go live in January 2023.

Then, Japan’s new law will start March 31, 2023.