March 18, 2022
Dear Fellow Supporters of Sustainability,
On March 15, 2022, I had the pleasure of moderating the panel “Plenary 2: Defining a new era for materiality—single, double, dynamic” at the “ICGN Virtual Forum: Global Sustainability Standards: Convergence & the Future“. My panel members were Bastian Buck (Chief of Standards, Global Reporting Initiative), Jeffrey Hales (Chair, SASB Standards Board & Executive Director, Global Sustainability Leadership Institute), Michael Jantzi (Founder, Sustainalytics & Managing Director, ESG Strategy, Morningstar) and Bhakti Mirchandani (Managing Director of Responsible Investing, Trinity Church Wall Street).
ICGN has kindly made this video available on this link using the password #ICGNGSS23.
Here is the message I posted on LinkedIn:
“Thanks to ICGN, I had the great pleasure of moderating the panel described below. It was a candid and constructive conversation. It was also fun and entertaining to moderate a panel with friends, for each of whom I have great respect. All of them have made major contributions to sustainability and sustainability reporting.
Here's my big takeaway. For all of the talk about single vs. double materiality and ISSB vs. EFRAG/GRI, wherever we're starting from there is a LOT more that unites us than divides us. Sure, there are different views. That is good. Sure, there are limits to what the ISSB can do. Sure, there are things to sort out in how the ISSB and EFRAG/GRI can work together. Yes, we must consider both how ESG issues affect long-term enterprise value creation and the negative externalities created by a company's operations and products and services in doing so.
What this panel made clear is that there is a clear desire to deal with all of these issues which inevitably involve some tension and tradeoffs. Hey, that's just life! Let me also say that my panel members are models of the kind of behavior we need to make sustainability reporting as good as it can be, while also recognizing that it is not a silver bullet. The screamers on both ends of the political spectrum will scream. In the meantime, the rest of us will get on with the important work that needs to be done.
Thanks again to ICGN for making this session a part of their excellent conference and for putting it (and the other sessions) in the public domain.”
All of the sessions are available on this link. You simply have to register.
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