Business owners that pursue sustainability increase their chances of becoming innovative leaders. We discuss why we need leaders who understand how to bring about systemic change for the benefit of wider society and why sustainability needs to be a core part of all leadership pathways.

• Avoiding reputational damage
• Determining what “green” means
• Staying on the right side of regulations

The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) introduces mandatory corporate reporting on a vast range of ESG issues with the aim of strengthening sustainability reporting requirements to improve corporate accountability, as well as the quality, consistency, and comparability of information disclosed.

• What are the requirements of the CSRD and the EU Sustainability Reporting Standards?
• How do both relate to one another?
• What is the impact of the CSRD on corporations?

The collection of high-quality, reliable data is the most crucial aspect of ESG reporting, as poor data quality can lead to a misrepresentation of a company’s performance and can negatively impact investment decisions. How do you ensure consistent, complete and accurate date over time?

• Understanding ESG reporting requirements
• How to navigate the data management and measurement challenge and collect high-quality, comparable and audit-ready data
• Integrating sustainability measures into standard processes across the company

IT solutions provider, Version1’s ESG strategy has been 10 years in the making. Lorna discusses their journey so far, how they have put a dedicated team in place and what practical steps they have taken for effectively reporting on social impacts

Habitats are being rapidly eroded along with the rich stratas of biodiversity. How are companies investing in nature and securing habitats for future generations?

• How to accurately identify, collect and manage good quality reliable scope 3 data
• How to avoid greenwashing claims: What are the latest tools and technologies to use?
• Co-ordinating with third parties to ensure accurate data collection across your value chain

Our panel discusses unlocking long-term value and meeting stakeholder expectations
for building a sustainable equitable future:

• What are stakeholders’ expectations towards companies’ ESG reporting and how can they help promote sustainable behaviours?
• Which ESG factors are the ones that can really show a company’s impact on the environment, people, and society?
• What ESG data and reporting do investors and financial market actors need?
• How to measure success and mitigate risks effectively?
• Are there effective tools to help customers make sustainable decisions?
• The seismic shifts and trends to watch: Changing consumer habits, corporate culture, biodiversity and the path to net-zero

• Why is ESG data important?
• Integrating ESG and financial reporting
• ESG data assurance
• Verifying and validating your data so that it is fit for compliance purposes
• ESG software platforms
• Supplier engagement for sustainability data and policies
• Understanding ESG ratings and scores
• The future of ESG data

• Exploring the global ESG opportunities for organisations and what it means for the construction industry in the long term.
• Connecting your ESG and sustainability efforts to company purpose and business priorities
• The opportunity to reflect that commitment in your people, risk and capital strategies will become increasingly urgent. But what does ESG mean for the global construction

• What actions to take in the initial phase of your ESG programme
• How can you prepare for reporting? What will you need to disclose and what metrics to use? 
• What approaches are companies using in designing ESG governance structures?
• Assigning responsibilities for communications, reporting and programme development
• Getting buy-in from all levels of the business
• Building an authentic and long-term strategy

As we venture further into a world where ESG is more embedded into every part of the investment process, what are some of the considerations for portfolio managers?

• Building successful ESG portfolios
• creating better engagement and stewardship
• achieving better disclosure and reporting standards
• ESG trends per sector/ across asset classes
• ESG risks, performance and opportunities for different sectors (green and blue bonds, climate change, carbon emissions, among others)
• Sustainable investment in a volatile political landscape
• The next big theme: Biodiversity loss and the risk to investors

How you can turn sustainability goals into lasting competitive advantage and net-zero pledges into reality:

• Cultivating the skills to drive ESG goals
• Creating a talent pipeline through business and education partnerships
• Best practice in retaining sustainability talent