“People, Planet, Profit”

Monday 09 November 2020

Pressure is building from investors and governments to ensure businesses play their part in meeting the climate challenge, guest speakers told an Institute of Directors seminar.

The IoD’s recent seminar, sponsored by Butterfield, discussed how directors and business leaders can better equip themselves to navigate the sustainable business agenda.

IoD committee members Sally Rochester and Jennifer Strachan provided an overview of the 'chapter zero' board level toolkit available to support directors of the business and the key drivers and benefits of enhanced non-financial reporting.

MsStrachan opened the seminar by explaining that a sustainable business is an enterprise that has minimal negative impact, or potentially a positive effect, on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy.  Ms Strachan said this was sometimes expressed as the “triple bottom line” - social, environmental and financial – “People, Planet, Profit”.

She said climate change is the most immediate and pressing topic on the sustainable business agenda, with the States of Guernsey and the UK government setting a target of 2050 by which to meet net-zero emissions.

However, Ms Strachan said that while climate change may be the trigger, sustainability is the end goal.

Explaining why it is important for boards to disclose data related to climate change and other sustainability issues, Ms Rochester said that directors are in a unique position to connect sustainability with corporate purpose and strategy. She presented the many disclosure requirements that are required, or will soon be required in response to stakeholder demands for transparency of this data. 

Once the value of sustainability is established, she said the business case for the critical importance of its disclosure will naturally follow. 

IoD Chair John Clacy commented on the importance of this subject in the wider corporate landscape. As a partner at Deloitte, he explained that over the summer months all staff had to dedicate considerable time to undertake learning and training on the topic.  He said that if companies such as Deloitte were putting this at the heart of their business, this demonstrated the importance of this topic.

For more information and to view the event presentation visit: https://www.iod.gg/news/article/iod-october-breakfast