The Way Forward for ESG: Firms are Adapting Business Strategy and Boosting Technology Investment


It’s no secret that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability are rising to the top of the priority list for so many organizations. As ESG performance continues to play a larger role in financial decisions and access to capital, more organizations than ever before are actively aligning their overall business strategy with ESG goals to remain competitive and resilient.

No longer the sole responsibility of marketing and communications business functions, Environmental, Social and Governance has become a core element of business strategy and is proving to be integral to overall financial performance. Firms are under pressure from diverse stakeholders, including investors, customers, and employees to prove their ESG credentials and to ensure continued ESG performance improvements.

Yet, sustainability strategies are impacted by many factors including corporate business priorities, current levels of technological adoption, and levels of data visibility into operations. Regardless of company and program maturity, data from this survey of 50 global organizations show that sustainability is increasingly being woven into work culture, the focus on managing ESG data is increasing, and there is a growing desire to leverage multiple business functions – most notably environmental, health, and safety (EHS) – to improve ESG performance.

Environmental, Social and Governance and sustainability is a journey. To get a sense of how far along organizations are in this journey today, we engaged with independent research firm, Verdantix, to find out:

  • Where 50 executives across 5 industries fall on the ESG maturity scale
  • The current state of corporate sustainability culture
  • How executives are using operational data to define overall ESG and sustainability strategies
  • The role of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) in supporting ESG performance
  • Which technologies firms are investing in to improve Environmental, Social and Governance performance

 
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Mark Wallace

Mark Wallace

CEO

Mark is CEO of Cority Software Inc., a Toronto-based, award-winning, global SaaS company. Under Mark’s leadership, Cority’s revenue has grown consistently at a compounded rate of 25%. The company has grown in employees from 29 when Mark started in 2003 to close to 400 employees today. It enjoys an industry-leading profit margin. In 2016, Cority raised capital with Norwest Venture Partners, Georgian Partners, and BMO; in 2019 Cority raised capital from software specialist Private Equity firm Thoma Bravo and with Norwest again stepping up as an investor. Mark was a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2017 and 2018. Previously, Mark was Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary and a member of the executive management team of AT&T Canada Corp. Mark is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University, where he recently completed 10 years on the Board of Governors, including four as Chair of the Board. He received his J.D. from the University of Victoria and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Mark is active in mentoring young entrepreneurs and has served on several other not for profit boards.