By: Leonardo Neri
ESG comes from the English words environmental, social and governance, and corresponds to an organization's environmental, social and governance practices. These are standards and good practices that define whether the company is socially conscious, sustainable and correctly managed.
The term gained repercussion in 2020, after the announcement made by the executive director of one of the largest fund managers – BlackRock – that companies not committed to sustainability criteria would be doomed to failure, since the topic would underpin the manager's investment decisions.
Since then, according to the Global Pact, in a survey conducted by Morningstar and Capital Reset, in Brazil, ESG funds raised R$2.5 billion in 2020 – more than half of the fundraising came from funds created in the last 12 months. Furthermore, according to a report by PwC, by 2025, 57% of mutual fund assets in Europe will be in funds that consider ESG criteria, which represents US$8.9 trillion, compared to 15.1% at the end of 2020. In addition, 77% of institutional investors surveyed by PwC said they plan to stop buying non-ESG products in the next two years.
To be ESG, the company must present and implement social, environmental and governance initiatives, not necessarily in a way that addresses all ESG aspects, but rather those that are necessary for the company, depending on the context in which it operates.
Thus, in the environmental area, it must make rational use of natural resources, preserve biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, work with energy efficiency and treat solid waste. In the social area, it must develop improvements in labor conditions and relations, encourage policies of inclusion, diversity, human rights and guarantee the privacy and security of employees. Furthermore, in terms of governance, the company must be guided by ethical and anti-corruption conduct in business, practice fiscal transparency, adopt diversity criteria when choosing board members and prevent cases of harassment, discrimination and prejudice.
In Brazil, Ambev, one of the companies that observes and applies ESG criteria, with the aim of implementing the issue, created an internship program for black people and appointed two women to the board, which gave the company the UN Women on Board seal.
ESG criteria are extremely relevant and important for a company, as they demonstrate that it is connected to society's challenges and investors see that the company is aware of the effect it has on its environment, in addition to the impacts it may generate in the business environment.