It was another tumultuous year for humanity and business. Inflation, supply chain problems, the first war in Europe in 80 years, and much more came together to challenge us all.The existential challenges we face — which the business community is increasingly being asked to help solve — got worse this year. We experienced climate-change-driven extreme weather: with record heat waves in Europe, India, and the earth’s poles; sprawling fires in the U.S.; and the shocking summer floods in Pakistan that covered one-third of the country. In the largest context of all — how many people live on this planet — took a symbolic step forward as we hit 8 billion people. (And no, the fusion energy breakthrough will not save us all).In the realm of what is mainly cal...
A swiftly changing geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop has shifted the ESG and climate landscape at a rapid pace, making it imperative that investors understand the challenges and opportunities that companies face.Climate remains at the top of the ESG agenda, with regulators increasingly conscious of the role they need to play alongside governments in ensuring companies and countries meet their climate-related obligations.Beyond climate, ESG is increasingly affecting many other areas, including impacts on everyday life. This year, we have drilled down to bring these detailed insights to you and help inspire some fresh thinking.The last year has seen a seismic shift in the ESG and climate landscape. Regulators are upping the ante on everything from greenwashing to stricter climate targe...
In recent years tremendous progress has been made in standardizing and quantifying measures of companies’ performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. There has also been a surge in investor interest in companies that are rated highly on ESG performance or appear to be taking ESG goals seriously. Yet surprisingly few companies are making meaningful progress in delivering on their ESG commitments. Of the 2,000 global companies tracked by the World Benchmarking Alliance, most have no explicit sustainability goals, and among those that do, very few are on track to meet them. Even companies that are making progress are, in most cases, merely instituting slow and incremental changes without the fundamental strategic and operational shifts necessary to meet th...
With the increase in electronic and plastic waste—key factors leading to soil contamination—international efforts towards the development of sustainable waste management strategies are underway. At the vanguard of these efforts is Professor Yong Sik Ok from Korea University, who has been pioneering research to tackle some of the most pressing contemporary challenges the world faces today, such as climate change and environmental degradation.His research focuses on achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have been presented in the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “There are significant obstacles in terms of the technical and engineering aspects, which arise when working towards sustainable achievement of these goals for both, the peopl...