Activists push the ESG agenda

Listed companies are feeling the heat from big super funds and global investors to embrace action on issues such as climate change and diversity.

It’s become a critical issue for listed companies and an ASX  roundtable discussion  - which saw the participation of  Michael Chandler, Governance Director Morrow Sodali Australia - explores the best way to respond to this pressure.

Together with other four distinguished representatives from Regnan, MSCI ESG Research, CGI Glass Lewis and AMP Capital, Michael Chandler talked about topics such as environmental and social reporting, ESG discussions within listed companies, activists' engagement etc...

"Responding to activists and their requests is taking up corporates’ time. The primary request we’re seeing revolves around the impact of climate change. The broader expectation, consistent with recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), is providing more foresight into, and forward  modelling and scenario analysis around, the resilience of asset portfolios over the long term. Companies we work with are struggling to gather the data and then figure out how transparent they wish to be in disclosing and quantifying their environmental impact over the long term," commented Michael Chandler when asked about what are the hot button issues for corporates in relation to environmental and social reporting.

Download the attachement below to read the entire roundtable discussion.