All in on Sustainability: A business case for committing to ESG.
In the spring of 2021, Jefferies and Barkley hosted a four-part webinar series on Purpose, Sustainability and ESG leading up to the release of our most recent research paper on those subjects: The Purpose Action Gap: The Business Imperative of ESG. Summaries of the event and recorded versions of each session are listed below.
Read the The Purpose Action Gap summary here. Download the full Purpose Action Gap research here.
ALL IN ON SUSTAINABILITY: A business case for committing to ESG
Part One: Why modern consumers and therefore modern investors prefer sustainable brands
Post-COVID consumers have never been more concerned about voting with their wallets to support brands that lead with values. At the same time, trust in both large institutions and brands reached an all-time low creating a massive trust gap. Few Gen Z and Millennial consumers are going to read a company’s ESG report — however much they say they want proof of a brand’s efforts. Brands that offer a strong value proposition including sustainability (environmental and social justice) are winning share of wallet. In the first of a four part series we co-hosted with Jeffries, we unpacked key trends for executives and brand stewards to consider.
Host: • Stephanie Wissink, Managing Director, Consumer Equity Research Guests: • Lindsey DeWitte, EVP, Purpose+Sustainability, Barkley • Jeff Fromm, President, Futurecast • Adam Miller, Director of Diversity + Inclusion, Barkley
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ALL IN ON SUSTAINABILITY: A business case for committing to ESG
Part Two: Why your CFO should care about sustainability and how regenerative finance drives returns
Regenerative finance is the idea that investing in the people and planet around your business is far from a cost but a way to unlock growth. The CFO plays a critical role in accelerating the capital flows to ESG innovation that are imperative in today’s economy. In this webinar, we interviewed leadership from Sustainable Brands, Levi Strauss & CO and Novartis Italy to explore how CFOs can create a systematic framework for decision making with ESG factors, and how to think about an integrated external reporting related to capital allocation, performance and impact.
Hosts: • Stephanie Wissink, Managing Director, Consumer Equity Research, Jefferies • Lindsey DeWitte, EVP, Purpose+Sustainability, Barkley
Guests: • Scott Broomfield, Executive Chair of Sustainable Brands and Managing Director of The EPIC Fund • Harmit Singh, EVP & CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. • Marco Venturelli, Board Member of Novartis Italy and Member of the B20 Task Force on Sustainability & Global Emergencies
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ALL IN ON SUSTAINABILITY: A business case for committing to ESG
Part Three: Business case for sustainability
Typically, companies see ESG as an expense that will lead to higher costs and business disadvantages. Companies that succeed in ESG and leverage the Purpose Profit Cycle are the ones that find a way to tie this into their business model.
In the third installment of our four part series on sustainability, global sustainability experts joined us to define the business case for sustainability with finance in the lead, and discussed what kinds of business tools and approaches to measure ROI on ESG are effective.
Hosts:
• Stephanie Wissink, Managing Director, Consumer Equity Research, Jefferies • Philippa Cross, EVP, Sustainability Strategist, Barkley
Guests:
• Ben Kellard, MSc, Director of Business Strategy, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership • Sophie Waskow Rifkin, Director of Corporate Research and Engagement at the Center for Sustainable Business, NYU Stern
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ALL IN ON SUSTAINABILITY: A business case for committing to ESG
Part Four: Integrating sustainability into financial returns
Companies that deliver the triple bottomline of positive impact on people, planet and profit often share key characteristics: a committed leader, clear goals and strategy and a strong internal culture. What is not talked about so frequently but equally important is a strong partnership between the chief sustainability officer and the chief financial officer. In the last installment in our four-part series on ESG, we talk to Unilever on how these pivotal C-suite individuals work together to deliver the ESG Strategy for the company. They reveal how they describe the Purpose Profit Cycle for their organization and quantify the impact of sustainability on the bottom line and top line.
Finally, we explore how to measure return on investment for ESG and how it is communicated both inside the company and with investors.
Hosts:
• Stephanie Wissink, Managing Director, Consumer Equity Research, Jefferies • Philippa Cross, EVP, Sustainability Strategist, Barkley; • Jeff Fromm, President, Futurecast
Guests:
• Karen Hamilton, Global Vice President Sustainability, Divisions, Unilever • Tammy Smitham, Vice President, Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility, Spin Master
