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How EY can Help
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EY CCaSS teams can help reduce the risk of EHS incidents and support decision-making to improve outcomes associated with EHS. Find out how.
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Business owners should ask themselves how their organizations can create long-term value that lasts. Long-term value is created when companies align their goals with society’s goals. This means creating value not just for shareholders, but also for employees, communities, and the planet.
Often, ESG issues arise when companies neglect their impact on these other stakeholders. As people in society increasingly demand greater social responsibility from businesses they work for, buy from, and invest in, ignoring ESG issues would mean exposure to significant risks that ultimately affect the top and bottom lines.
To mitigate these risks, companies should integrate ESG into their operations and business strategy after identifying material ESG risks and opportunities:
- Identify what is material to the company
- Regularly engage internal and external stakeholders to identify key issues of concern
- Assess ESG risks along the value chain
- Map out a universe of issues that are most pertinent to the company, based on what was identified through stakeholder engagement, value chain assessment and industry and standards requirements
- Prioritize ESG risks and opportunities by considering the probability of occurrence over the short to long term and the magnitude of financial, operational and reputational impact
To further distinguish themselves, companies could benchmark their practices against industry ESG leaders, and explore sustainable financing options.