Amdeya has best-in-class global expertise in advising banks and companies on achieving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Goals. Amdeya’s ESG performance ratings represent the main offering in the comprehensive ESG advisory services that Amdeya provides. Amdeya advises banks and companies on ESG and Sustainability in one or all of the following areas:
An ESG book written by Amdeya’s Chairman has just been published in the U.S. The title of the book is “Balancing Environmental, Social, and Governance Goals: What Banks and Companies Can Do on ESG and Sustainability”. The ESG book is already available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
The publisher has also prepared a specific website for the book. The publisher’s website gives a synopsis of the book’s contents.
This book cements Amdeya’s reputation as best-in-class in the ESG field. The ESG book comes at a time when the need for ESG planning, reporting, and verification by banks and companies globally is growing rapidly. ESG is now clearly “good for business”. This is mainly because stakeholders now link ESG with effective business and risk management. These stakeholders include investors, shareholders, clients, employees, suppliers, international financial institutions, rating agencies, and regulators. This has been evidenced recently by several highly successful ESG-linked debt/capital issues, including in the emerging markets. Many of these issues have been oversubscribed and their prices reduced, specifically because they were ESG-linked.
Amdeya has carried out a comprehensive survey of ESG planning and reporting in more than 700 banks in 41 developed and emerging countries. The Amdeya ESG survey found out that only a third of the surveyed banks have ESG/Sustainability reports. The banks that have ESG reports are also mostly the larger banks in these countries. The survey moreover found out that most banks plan to have ESG plans and reports in five years time.
Amdeya recognizes that ESG is still in a developing stage. Most banks and companies actually already cover many of the elements of ESG. They however need to plan these better, make them more comprehensive, and report on them. It would not take a major effort for them to report on ESG, as the larger banks and companies are already doing. These banks and companies would moreover find that ESG is good for business.
The regulators are also likely to start demanding that their banks report on some elements of ESG, and on verification of ESG “labeling” of financial products, and ESG bank reports.
The ESG reports of banks and companies would also be more credible if there is independent assurance of what is being reported about ESG activities and products. Some of these products, including bonds, have been recently labeled “green”, “blue”, or “social”. This labeling needs to be verified, to avoid the risk of “greenwashing”. ESG, and sustainability reports by the largest international banks and companies are now independently verified in order to provide assurance to their many stakeholders.
Amdeya believes that the way-forward for banks and companies is to have a “balanced approach” to ESG. Their ESG reports need to cover several elements, in addition to the very important climate-related issues. This is because there are many ESG components that are important for the success of banks and companies. These include good governance, health, financial inclusion, gender equality, water availability, and education among others. The generally accepted approach is to select important elements in ESG that are “material” to a bank or a company which it would pursue and report on.
The future trends point clearly that banks and companies need to give increasing attention to ESG in their business. It is highly likely that the more successful banks and companies would be those that factor in ESG in their plans, and report on these in a structured manner, on an annual verifiable basis.
For more information on how Amdeya can help in providing ESG and Sustainability advice, you can contact ESG@amdeya.com.