Does your business need an ESG Strategy?

Please be aware that this is a guide only and you should seek specific advice for your business*

ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) is a framework that businesses use to demonstrate their impact on the environment and on society, and show how robust and transparent their business is.

As well as measuring financial performance, it’s a good idea for a business to measure how they are performing from an ESG perspective and set an ESG strategy that drives them towards improved performance. This can help to make them more attractive to customers, investors and potential employees.

How do you start to plan an ESG strategy?

Start by measuring and understanding where your business is now, then think about where you'd like your business to be in the future.

It's important to identify the most significant ESG indicators for your business and the areas you can make the biggest impact. Think about the impact your business is having on the environment, such as the emissions from operating equipment, travel, heating and lighting. You also need to consider social issues, including how you're tackling gender and diversity inequalities within your workforce and any good work you do to help your community.

Setting up a simple spreadsheet is a good way to start. Under each ESG item, record where your business is now and where you want it to be in the short, medium and long term. Then add any improvements that will help you reach your goals. Once you have this starting point, you'll be able to set ESG objectives for your business and employees.

Don’t forget to consider your suppliers and other relationships, including who you bank with. It will be difficult to achieve your sustainability goals if your suppliers have poor ESG standards. Can you make some changes within your supply chain to help you in your sustainable and responsible business journey?

It’s important to consider how you will measure and monitor your ESG achievements. There are apps and resources available online to help you do this. For example, Zellar is a software platform for medium-sized businesses that allows them to measure, manage and improve their sustainability journey from one place. Find out more here.

Collaborate

We are all becoming more conscious about climate change, the environment and how we wan to work and do business with more eco-conscious companies. Ask your suppliers, your business network and your employees for their views and ideas. build a collaborative working culture and look at sharing ideas and working together.

As you develop your ESG strategy it will gradually become part of your business culture. Look at setting SMART goals to achieve throughout the year and consider breaking them down into achievable timescales. Think about how you can incorporate your ESG goals and strategy into your HR policies, so they can play a part in employee performance management as well as helping you to attract new staff that share your goals.

Putting it all into place

Setting up small focus groups across your business to work with your customers and suppliers can help to make the task more manageable. You could consider using a key member of staff to take responsibility for reporting on progress against the ESG strategy. They can be responsible for bringing all the different strands together and empowering colleagues to make a difference together.

This is a great time to embark on your journey to become a more sustainable business. For more information about The Co-operative Bank’s ESG commitments, read our latest Sustainability Report.

*While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by The Co-operative Bank for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. This is merely a guide and each business is unique in its requirements. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.

If you’d like to find out more about making more sustainable choices for your business, please visit our Sustainability hub.