Establishing sustainability reporting capabilities

Overview

Mandatory recurring financial and non-financial sustainability reporting for companies around the world is imminent, and guidelines, such as those for JSE listed companies, have already been published. This is wholly new territory for most corporate C-suites and boards and on the front line for this task will be companies’ reporting officers. Most aren’t prepared. As a leader of a listed, private or non-profit company, you have a responsibility to ensure that you and your staff understand and are prepared to meet the impending global sustainability reporting requirements.

Bruce Whitfield hosts this interactive one-hour engagement with an expert panel. Watch the video to obtain an understanding of what operational capabilities are required to publish assurable sustainability reports according to the JSE guidance, emerging international standards, and developing stakeholder requirements.

Intended audience

  • Directors
  • C-suite / executives
  • CFOs, accountants, investment managers and analysts
  • Assurance providers including audit, risk and compliance
  • Operational managers including information officers and IT leaders
  • Stakeholder relationship managers including investor, employee and corporate relations

Questions from the audience and answers from the panellists

Questions and answers will soon be available here.

Panellist profiles

Bruce Whitfield

Business Speaker, journalist, author

As a presenter, speaker and author, he interprets the noise at the murky intersection where business, politics and society collide. He has the extraordinary ability to bring clarity and transform the way we see the world. This fresh perspective shines a light on how we can fix the future. 

 

Bruce is an award-winning journalist whose daily Money Show each weeknight on 702 and CapeTalk is compulsory listening for anyone who wants to better understand the world of money and business amidst the noise and clutter of a confusing world. He has hosted numerous TV programs, is a Contributing Editor to the Financial Mail and is a foreign correspondent to multiple international news providers.

 

His latest project, Genius: How to Take Smart Ideas Global, examines what it takes to thrive in an increasingly complex, fast-paced, divisive global environment. These are lessons for anyone looking to succeed anywhere against the odds.

 

His bestselling, first book, “The Upside of Down”, focuses on how chaos and uncertainty breed opportunity. Using examples, backed up with the facts, and his signature brand of optimistic realism, he shows how current times are not the most challenging in history but actually a time of incredible opportunity.

 

Bruce is a well-known broadcaster, best-selling author and sought-after business speaker. He has shared stages and digital platforms with the likes of Bill & Hillary Clinton, Nouriel Roubini Charlize Theron, Lord Mervyn King and hundreds of business and political luminaries and personalities. He is as comfortable on a stage as he is on camera or behind the microphone. He is insatiably curious and constantly builds his understanding of the world in a way that helps him help audiences make sense of it too.

Louise Gardner

Founder, First Principles

Member of the Advisory Committee

Louise has over 22 years of experience working globally on initiatives that have changed how the private sector, investors, and financial institutions think about value creation through improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

 

From 2000 to 2004, Louise was editor of the CSR Magazine, published by the European business network CSR Europe. Since 2005 she has worked for IFC, part of the World Bank Group, on projects across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to promote sustainable business and financial sector practices in emerging markets, including support to financial sector regulators. She is currently Africa Coordinator in the Secretariat of the IFC-facilitated Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN) and led work on SBFN’s 2021 Global Progress Report on national sustainable finance initiatives across 43 emerging markets, including South Africa. She has also supported a variety of IFC advisory projects with South Africa’s financial sector since 2012 to advance sustainable finance.

 

In 2010, Louise founded First Principles Sustainability Services, based in Cape Town, South Africa, to provide research and advice to South African and global clients on new developments in private sector sustainability, sustainable finance, and impact investing.

 

In 2019, First Principles incubated the ESG Tracker rating tool to accelerate the adoption of ESG and impact management in private equity. She joined forces with co-founders in 2020 to establish Vukani Impact Collective to scale the ESG Tracker and support businesses and investors globally to build value and resilience through sustainability.

 

Louise holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent in Canterbury.

Loshni Naidoo

BSc (Chem Eng.), BCom (INF), MBA, PGDIP (Future Studies)

Loshni Naidoo is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting, responsible for providing clients with effective solutions that respond to shifting environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainability challenges to ensure long- term value creation.


She began her career as a chemical engineer, working for several years in the production and project environments; mainly in mining and chemicals manufacturing. Later, she moved into the accounting and finance fields, where her focus was on providing sustainability and integrated reporting, as well as sustainability advisory and assurance solutions to a diverse array of organisations.


During her tenure at SAICA, her focus was to support members on topics related to sustainability, ESG and integrated thinking by advocating on behalf of accountants, awareness- raising, as well as developing thought leadership and technical guidance.

Peadar Duffy

Global ESG Practice Lead at Archer Integrated Risk Management

Chair of the Technical Committee

Peadar Duffy is Archer’s Global ESG Practice Lead, and is responsible for leveraging his thought leadership in the organizational risk and governance domains to provide strategic direction and collaboration across Archer’s internal and external partners in the design and development of Archer’s ESG solutions. 


He currently represents Ireland on the ISO technical committees for Risk Management (TC 262) and the Governance of Organisations (TC 309) where he is involved in the development and revision of various guidelines, reports and technical specifications.


Most recently Mr. Duffy had been involved with other international experts in the development of the first global governance guideline which emphasizes organizational purpose and other ESG-sustainability principles underpinning performance and long-term viability. Mr. Duffy began his 25-year career in risk management spanning multiple industry sectors in Ireland, the US and Middle East following 15 years in the Irish military.

Deeksha G Rao Sahib

Sustainability Consultant | ESG Strategy | Change Agent

Deeksha G Rao Sahib is an ESG Consultant and Sustainability Solutions Expert at Changing Habits Solutions, Canada.

 

Deeksha specializes in creating sustainability solutions for business transformation. Her rich professional experience with research, start-ups, non-profit and consulting enables her to work with diverse groups of people. Her strength lies in developing programs to create strategic business opportunities embracing sustainability and facilitating dialogue for fostering partnerships among different stakeholders. Her expertise includes Materiality Assessment, Stakeholder engagement, ESG Roadmap and Strategy and Sustainability reporting.

 

Deeksha is an accredited Environmental Professional in Training (EPt) by ECO Canada and holds an M.B.A degree in Energy & Environment from Symbiosis International University, India. 

 

She contributes to bringing a positive impact on the local community through her work with the non-profit organisation, Net Impact Montreal. 

Carolynn Chalmers

Chief Executive Officer of The ESG Exchange

Carolynn has spent the last 20 years assisting leaders and leadership teams to understand and apply governance principles and generate value for their organizations. She uses of her expertise and experience in corporate governance, organizational strategy, Digital Transformation and systems thinking to do so.


Carolynn has extensive management and governance experience and has held various Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Board, Board Committee and Executive roles for international, listed, private and public organizations. This spans many industries, including financial services, health, energy, construction, education, tourism, media, non-profit and the public sector.


Carolynn is co-editor of the ISO standard for the governance of organizations (ISO 37000), co-convenor of the Governance Maturity Technical Committee (ISO 37004) and Chairperson of the associated South African Bureau of Standards mirror committee, TC309, where she also represents South Africa’s King Committee.


Carolynn is well known for her successes in designing and leading large, complex strategy and organizational transformation implementations – she attributes this success to the application of effective governance principles.


Carolynn has received numerous national and international accolades for public speaking.

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