Introduction to Corporate Sustainability

The workshop takes a very practical approach to help students grasp the current organizational interest in ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance). Students will be introduced to various tools and frameworks commonly used to analyze and investigate a company’s ESG credentials. Students will learn how to critically read sustainability reports and how to assess the materiality of corporate sustainability claims. In order to develop these skills, it is necessary to first gain some general knowledge about how ESG or CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) came about and why it has become such an important part of corporate strategy in the 21st century. A deeper dive into the E, S, and G dimensions of ESG will underpin understanding why ESG monitoring and reporting matter and how to critically evaluate ESG ratings.

The second part will focus on how different countries are trying to regulate ESG and how ESG has evolved. A decade ago, companies that excelled in ESG were still able to use this as a competitive differentiator, but this is increasingly less the case, as more and more customers are simply demanding high ESG standards. We explore regeneration as the next phase of corporate sustainability and discuss a case study of a Chinese FinTech’s very successful regeneration strategy.