Laetitia Tankwe, member of the ESG Lab & Society Strategic Committee, shares her vision of ESG and underlines the importance of co-construction and collective intelligence to address our challenges.
ESG or becoming a responsible actor and citizen
This acronym, known only by insiders, does not mean much as it stands. These three letters do not reflect a strategy, nor an ambition and even less a vision. It sets out a space to address environmental, social and governance issues, but then requires in-depth discussions between all stakeholders to define a consensus around the ambition we want to attach to those letters.
What do we want for the planet and the people? What is our vision of the world?
However, the development of this acronym marks an important milestone: the economy is no longer the only field to be covered, including by economic actors.
So, let’s keep the acronym and put some content into it!
If we look at it from the financial side, it is a question of reducing as much as possible the negative impacts of our decisions on people and planet, or even going further and striving to contribute to a sustainable transformation of our societies, through investment and financial decisions.
I have the same interpretation of what ESG should be for a company. The difference is that company acts through products and services and through its internal practices along its value chain. In other words, for me, the right level of ambition in terms of ESG goes beyond trying to reduce risks and maximise opportunities from a financial return perspective.
To be concerned about environmental, social and governance issues is to be a responsible actor, a citizen actor fully aware of his belonging to an ecosystem, an ecosystem that he can affect positively or negatively depending on his practices. To be concerned with ESG is to question the role of the institution, value sharing, and a definition of what value is.
ESG Lab & Society: addressing our challenges with collective intelligence
It is undoubtedly that the level of material comfort in our western societies has improved greatly over the centuries. We are facing many environmental and social challenges. The persistence of these difficulties is even more intolerable considering that we are collectively aware of the wealth of our economies. We live in a powerful country with many valuable assets such as our capacity of innovation, diversity of our territories and population, or the solidity of our institutions. However, many challenges remain.
Faced with this observation, there is many ways to mobilise. Some prioritise citizen action via associations, others use their artistic skills to raise awareness and thus encourage action, others put their commitment at the heart of their professional activity or choose political action.
For my part, I have chosen to combine several of these drivers. Contributing to the development of more sustainable finance[1] is the core of my professional activity. My decision to participate in the ESG Lab & Society is part of my commitment as a citizen.
I am convinced that by improving the dialogue between economic actors, the ESG Lab & Society has the power to amplify the transformations that we feel close but that must be accelerated. Because it is through co-construction and collective intelligence that we will find solutions to address the challenges we face.
[1] What is Sustainable Finance? – Finance durable (observatoiredelafinancedurable.com)