Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash
The healthcare industry's social responsibility goes beyond just workplace and supply chain issues; it's about its impact on society and what its real goals are. Trials and prevention efforts often overlook certain groups. Politics and money regularly determine who gets treated, in function of political agendas in some jurisdictions. And: Using the GDP to measure health isn't necessarily helpful as it incentives fixing problems rather then preventing them early on.
COP28
COP28 yielded mixed results, featuring some historic 'firsts' such as a fossil fuel phase-out commitment, a $700 million loss and damage fund, the recognition of nuclear energy, and (this is huge!) a pointed spotlight on food systems' role in adaption. Most of the old challenges though remain: It's all carrots and no sticks. Which shows in the continued absence of enforcement of Climate Targets or their stringency, and the eye-level conversation with Global South nations.
Waves of global disasters - Meme
After some results at the COP in Vancouver, as well as the release of the first ever Science -Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) – finally (!) the recommendations by the TNFD (Task Force for nature-based financial disclosure) have been released. So the question obviously is, how do these targets address the 5 key drivers of biodiversity erosion eventhough it is only about reporting? Are the TNDF recommendations worth their salt?
Tutorial, Field Manual, Type writer
This manual was originally drafted when I was astonished by the way how ‘doublespeak’ is being used in organisations to prevent change. Any change. Including – but not limited to – sustainability related ones. It is a cynic-sarcastic-semi-realistic manual on how to be reasonably successful in disempowering an organisation. It is applicable to all areas that encompass change including innovation, sustainability, internationalisation, digitalisation and so forth.
Odd one out Governance Ethics
When it comes to governance, discussions about ‘Best Practice’ are frequent. What is often forgotten however: Governance, and notably ‘good’ governance, stands and falls with people. WHO sits on the board is hence at the very least as important as HOW that board is set up to operate by its procedures and surrounding legal constraints. Why is that so? And why is this often ignored?
Leadership and Operations have complementary accountabilities in rolling out Sustainability
‘The conversation is always about cost, not about impact!’ And: ‘Employees just don’t get moving!’ Do these statements remind you of your company’s challenges? Your not alone! Leadership and Operations Teams have complementary sustainability implementation accountabilities and responsibilities. But instead of leveraging that fact, more often than not the blame game is played. What to do about it? Implement Fair Process Leadership governance processes - and train all teams through Serious Games.
Better days ahead, outrage and optimism
Do you know these feelings? Outrage at the lack of action of friends and colleagues in the face of climate science data; fatalism when thinking about the future the next generation (and the one after); optimism in those few moments when joining up with like-minded people that do what they can do change the course of current events around; and helplessnesses when despite all efforts the bigger is just frozen. But we have a choice of which emotions to live in order to create change. Choose now!
Carbon Pricing
Pricing the ton of carbon is a key matter – more so as an increasing number of companies aim at publicly claiming carbon neutrality. Carbon hence has a price – and this raises the much discussed question: What is a fair (or better: ‘correct’) price for carbon? In this post I present a glimpse of some of the challenges and realities related to the topic. It leaves us with the question: What went wrong in the current system that fundamentally asks us to choose between having to monetarily price natural and societal resources, and a fair, equitable access to these resources specifically for hard hit communities? The question alone should not be even asked. And yet it seems that’s what we’re left with given the current time and age.
Paradox
It's a funny state of things: One where investors complain that ESG data is not standardised; where at the same time companies – and notably their boards – complain that investors do not ask for data in a standardised way. And where the very same companies and boards nonetheless prioritise proprietary measurement systems over any other one for their own supply chains and products. It's a paradox. One that is not efficient, effective, or conducive to impact. A call to leave politics to the side, focus in impact, and standardise, standardise, standardise.
Sustainable Business Leadership in 2030 - Four Scenarios
If you’ve ever been part of a bigger discourse about how to scale out sustainability economically and globally, you’ll have been quick to notice that by and large you’ll be faced with representatives of four distinct camps of advocates: The Grassrooters; the 'Setting the tone at the top' people; those in support of government regulation driven by civil society; and the 'Fiduciary Duty Advocates'. But which camp owns the driving leadership role? Funnily enough, that role does get handed around as if it was a game of musical chairs ... or the proverbial hot potato.
Coaching
Most boards are composed of former or present CEOs, CFO and other C-suite executives. People, hence, with a long track record of ‘getting stuff’ done. A board’s role however is very different from that of an executive: digging deep by asking those overly simple questions that give interesting answers, digging deep into rationales, values, hopes, expectations, shut up doubts, and personal agendas. Which is what good coaches typically do. Are coaches the better board directors?
Sustainability Funnel - Cost, Compliance
Right now everyone, everything seems to talk about wanting to be come ‘carbon neutral’. Don’t get me wrong: The goal itself – getting to a net zero carbon balance at the very least, and all that on nothing longer than a 2040 trajectory – is a must for every business. But. After Circularity and Regenerative, we’re seemingly right onto the next term in the game of buzzword bingo: Net Zero. Net Zero should be every where indeed. But not as a mere wave to ride in order to catch the next press release headline.
Toshiba Robot
How does digitalisation impact and link to corporate responsibility? This is the question we look into in this post. Combining the two disciplines results in a range of interesting questions. For example: If humans create non-human agents (e.g. in the shape of AI): For what, towards whom are these responsible? And: are they responsible at all - or is it their creator who is?
Questions
Corporate responsibility, business ethics, sustainability, ESG. Whatever the terminology there are three fundamental questions that underpin all decisions, actions, strategies in this regard. These questions are strategically relevant for any board of directors. Because they are the basis upon which fiduciary duty is constructed. And: they outline the framework within which the fiduciary duty of a board is bound to evolve over time.
Rules
One of the things usually approved at the constituent board meeting after every company AGM are the board of directors' ‘Rules of Procedure’. What looks, and is often perceived, as a formality though, at close looks carries not just formal weight, but indeed formulates – directly or between the lines – the duties of the board. What do these rules typically enshrine - and what not?
Bias Lense
The influence of decision bias is nothing new when scrutinising corporate governance. And yet: by and large businesses continue to fail to adjust their strategic decision-making processes to become more climate viable. At best they have just barely started on their journey. Why is that? As we look deeper into the corporate discourse on Climate Change, it becomes evident that one of the silent yet crucial culprits behind the climate change inertia lies in the cognitive biases at play in corporate decision making. What are those biases, what do they mean for boards in the context of strategic Climate Change decisions, and what can be done about it?
Baggage
A recent Bloomberg article found: of more than 600 directors and executives of the world’s 20 largest banks, only few individuals had experience in renewable or sustainable industries. Far more had ties to polluting industries: At least 73 individuals even have at one time or another held a position with one or more of the biggest corporate emitters of greenhouse gases, including 16 connected to oil or refining companies. The irony: it is precisely the directors’ prior track record and experience, one of the very reasons why they got (s)elected onto the board, that could jeopardise their board’s forward decisions.
Tennis Ball and Court
Expertise is a key discussion topic when it comes to board composition. Not only during the hiring process, but also when looking at the tenure in and renewal processes of board. According to a recent article by Board Agenda: a number of risks that have raised Directors & Officers concerns, and even litigation. These include [...] climate change and environmental issues; the #MeToo movement and other societal risks and merger objection litigation. Hence the question is: How sustainability (ESG) savvy and capable are boards?
Diversity-and-Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion is a highly relevant topic not ‘just’ because it is all about equality and justice. But as long as entire parts of our global population remain disenfranchised, and desperate to just survive from day to day, tackling challenges - and in particular Climate Change - that affect all of us, indiscriminately, remains impossible. Boards of Directors set out the "Tone at the Top', also in matter of diversity and inclusion. In fashion companies, what exactly is the tone, the music, that they are creating?
Conflict
An NGO comes after you – for the right or the wrong reasons. A journalist publishes an article. The content: inconvenient truths, or equally inconvenient fake news. Or simpler: The staff churn in your company is way above average. And no one seems to know why. The meetings, the clashes, the disagreement, the blaiming that comes with it. Yes, been there, done that. Thankfully, there were times I was not a party in the conflict. Instead I was assigned the (ungrateful?) task of figuring out how to resolve it, build bridges, and ‘get stuff done’. Not just once, but a few times. What initially was of me ‘winging it’, over time – with trial and error – turned into something more structured. Still not perfect – it never will be, there is always room for improvement – but a flight-by-instrument rather than a blind adventure. This post is my first try at illustrating, verbalising, this process.The steps I use, and what their intention is. With the hope of it being as useful to others as it is and was to me.