Giving Compass' Take:
- Tina Casey reports on the ongoing trend towards embracing corporate sustainability and ESG principles, spotlighting enterprise resource planning software.
- How can donors and funders ensure that the trend towards ESG continues in the corporate world and beyond?
- Learn more about best practices in philanthropy.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits in your area.
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The incoming Donald Trump administration has an opportunity to unravel U.S. federal energy policies that support and accelerate decarbonization, but making the most of that opportunity will be a difficult task. Globally, businesses have already begun integrating systems that treat sustainability as a necessary business practice, not a dispensable afterthought, embracing corporate sustainability and ESG.
Corporate Sustainability and ESG Are Not Going Away
The German technology firm SAP is a good example of new momentum in the sustainability field. It is widely recognized as the leading developer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which integrates all elements of a business into a unified platform for decision-making. About 80 percent of global GDP passes through SAP software on a daily basis.
TriplePundit spoke with SAP Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer Sophia Mendelsohn at the company’s Hudson Yards offices in New York City last month to gain some insight into what lies ahead for the corporate sustainability movement over the next four years.
Mendelsohn described how the sustainability profession has transformed over her 22 years in the field, moving from a relatively narrow focus on local pollution to a holistic embrace of corporate responsibility and ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles. She characterizes the move toward sustainability in business as a permanent one, no matter which way the political winds blow.
“Sustainability is not going away,” she said, emphasizing that investor awareness of climate risks is driving the decarbonization movement and the rise in corporate sustainability and ESG.
The Consumer Baseline Has Shifted, Permanently
Businesses are also responding to trends in public approval for sustainable and ethical commerce. Mendelsohn frames public sentiment as a “social license to operate." She observed that the baseline for social license to operate has shifted significantly since her early years in sustainability when “consumers won’t pay more” was a common refrain.
Today, more consumers are willing to pay. In a survey last spring, for example, the global professional services firm PwC found a strong connection between climate awareness and consumer behavior. More than 80 percent of those surveyed were willing to pay more for products they deemed more sustainable, despite the pressures of inflation on household budgets.
Read the full article about corporate sustainability and ESG by Tina Casey at Triple Pundit.