Atlanta, That’s a Wrap!
Phoebe Fu, Manager at Future 500 Published April, 2024
Atlanta, That’s a Wrap!
Last week, our team had the pleasure of gathering with twenty corporate partners, industry leaders, and expert speakers for a Corporate Working Group in Atlanta, Georgia. Topics ranged as broad as nature-related disclosures and Corporate Political Responsibility, but the consistent factor was the robust discussion shared by participants and advocates working to understand at-times thorny issues and identify ways for their co mpanies to effectively engage.
Dr. Helen Crowley, a field biologist by background, shared her experience working to develop the Taskforce for Nature-Related Disclosures (TNFD) framework.
She described how humans can fundamentally shift our thinking around nature as a paradigm. Figuring out how business interrelates with nature is a first step. Then, companies must make a commitment to reduce nature loss and begin restoring it, following the principles of “assess, commit, act, and transform.”
For extractive companies it is especially important to understand their operational inter-dependencies with communities and society and carefully cultivate their license to operate. Then, they must set science-based targets to assess and track their footprint, water use, biodiversity impact, and more over time.
Dr. Crowley cautioned that the process of implementing a biodiversity strategy must be an iterative, continual process of improvement. At the same time, it’s an opportunity for companies to engage in a rapidly maturing space that will quickly invite more scrutiny.
Dr. Crowley summarizes the importance of nature here: “Nature is relevant, it has value, intrinsic value. The new world order has always been about risk and return, fear response and incentives, so how do we make sure the return goes up and fear goes down for nature? The rules of the game are changing, we get to also influence the rules. We have regulatory frameworks, lots of back and forth between the public and private sector. Ultimately what we’re talking about here is resilience, our entire economy is embedded in nature.”
Dr. Elizabeth Doty, Rep. Claudine Schneider, and Chip York spoke to the role of business in ensuring political stability.
In light of a year in which more than half the globe will vote in national elections, it is more important now than ever for companies to discuss what corporate political responsibility means.
Dr. Doty, Director of the Corporate Political Responsibility (CPR) Taskforce at The Erb Institute, touched upon the importance of engaging where companies have made a clear commitment to employees and investors and deferring to civil society to respond to voters where there are no corporate commitments. She helped develop the principles for CPR, a framework for businesses to engage politically and stand up responsibility in a complex political realm. In particular, Dr. Doty emphasizes the importance of fiduciary responsibility for companies, being transparent and upfront about financing political activity where possible to center trust from employees and the public.
Former U.S. Representative Schneider worked on key environmental issues and pioneered bills that included ideas such as regenerative agriculture in the 1980s, with bipartisan sponsorship. She also implemented energy ratings for appliances to ensure more efficient household use, which led to the successful Energy Star Program. She emphasized the vital importance and civic responsibility of business and voters to voice support for a just democracy.
Mr. York, speaking from his experience at Coca-Cola, Ketchum, and Business for America, shared strategic recommendations about how companies can build a mutually trusting relationship with employees and contribute to national political stability by taking a public anti-violence stance, free and open elections, maintaining a policy on employees’ expression of political support, and being a trusted source of information for employees. In particular, he emphasizes the importance of anti-violence stances for companies to pave the way for upstanding a just democracy. There is no single best approach to corporate political engagement, but it should be done from both the private and public sector, engaging where relevant and impactful.
The discussion was thought-provoking and touched on the many ways companies could engage in CPR, depending on their unique context.
Lisa Woll, ex-CEO of the U.S. Forum for Sustainable Investment, spoke to the evolving ESG landscape and investors’ shifting expectations.
Lisa emphasized that ESG issues are at an inflection point, particularly in the U.S., due in part to three issues: (1) presidential and congressional election outcome changes this fall, (2) generational wealth transfer to more mission-driven millennial investors, and (3) trade associations becoming more active on public p0licy making. Given this, there is an opportunity to reconsider the scope and definition of ESG and drive toward the next iteration of this evolving landscape.
Lisa emphasized that in addition to the Presidential election outcome, the outcome of the House, Senate, and other cabinet positions play a significant role in the sustainability and ESG landscape. With shifting Congressional majorities, U.S. policy faced continual destruction and the creation of different laws. Within that cycle, however, the consistency of efforts from organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other trade associations, investor and NGO coalitionsm and individuals within government committees provide multiple opportunities to enable more consistent pathways of change and progress.
The recent politicization of ESG allows for a healthy reconsideration of ESG’s scope and definition, to advance standardization in terminology and approach. For business and investors, this could include encouraging and advocating for harmonizing global standards to assess material social and environmental risks and opportunities for their bottomline impacts on profits and society.
Larry Selzer, CEO of the Conservation Fund, closed the working group by discussing the need for permit reform.
The permitting process impedes both right-wing and left-wing-backed infrastructure and energy projects. Larry, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conservation Fund detailed a “grand bargain” for infrastructure where industry, government agencies, and the activist community find common ground on bespoke solutions for infrastructure build-out. These conversations can be more productive when local organizations with an intimate stake are involved.
As Larry says, it’s imperative to “protect land for people, not from people.” Larry believes in standing up industry and civil society collaboration on conservation to showcase project innovation on projects, demonstrate to peer leaders ways to find paths forward, and a compelling vision for both scaling positive economic and conservation outcomes, such as modernizing the grid and transmission lines through conservation corridors or in addressing biodiversity impacts at a landscape level along pipeline routes.
Our next Corporate Working Group (CWG) will take place in September. For more information about the CWG and how to participate, contact us at info@future500.org.
_____________________________________________________
Full NOTES for reference:
Last week, our team had the pleasure of hosting a Corporate Working Group in Atlanta, GA, with our corporate partners, Atlantic leaders, and invited speakers (full agenda here). This dynamic and robust gathering deeply touched on
Dr. Helen Crowley: Nature & Nature-Related Disclosures: Issue Landscape Briefing
A field biologist by background, Dr. Crowley began her career in conservation in Madagascar and quickly became drawn to the intersection of people and nature. She went on to work at Kering, driving positive outcomes from supply chains and integrating sustainability deeply into her work. She then took a sabbatical to help develop the Taskforce for Nature-Related Disclosures (TNFD) framework, helping outline the foundation for nature-related disclosures. Dr. Crowley is now an investor with Pollination, a climate change investment firm focused on nature-positive and net zero.
Synopsis:
In order to transition to nature in our operations and investments, we need to fundamentally shift our thinking around nature as a paradigm. Nature is the interaction between the living and the non-living, a type of capital, and there are intercorrelated impacts from it. Figuring out how your business interrelates with nature is a first step. Then, make a commitment to reduce loss and stop degradation and evaluate how to restore nature. As Dr. Crowley says, “Assess, commit, act, and transform.”
Think creatively about how to evaluate land, nature, and people. Evaluate it as a bottom-up ecosystem, landscape approach, or other forms in a way that suits your business and people. For example, consider financing suppliers to allow them to obtain more sustainable materials and be able to transform themselves, visualize how to create sustainable livelihoods beyond the supply chain, innovate on green chemistry, and more.
For extractive companies, understanding dependencies and upholding your license to operate is the first step in addressing nature. Then, set ambitions or targets, particularly science-based ones, to evaluate your footprint, ecosystem, water, and more. Evaluate whether you’re extracting responsibly and contributing to or degrading biodiversity.
Ultimately, there will never be a single measure for nature, although technology such as eDNA to track species is rapidly evolving and improving the measurement of outcomes. As you’re thinking through biodiversity, Dr. Crowley cautions against stating that you’re nature-positive, as there is a lot of discussion and evaluation left to be desired here. The process of implementing a biodiversity strategy can be overwhelming, which is why it must be an iterative, continual process of improvement. At the same time, it’s an opportunity for companies to engage in a rapidly maturing space that will invite more scrutiny quickly.
Elizabeth Doty | Claudine Schneider | Chip York: The Role of Business in Ensuring Political Stability
In light of the election(s) year (with more than half the globe voting on national elections), it is more important now than ever for companies to discuss what corporate political responsibility means. Drawing from Dr. Doty, the Honorable Representative Schneider, and Mr. York’s experiences, the dialogue and transparency around elections, and how to engage politically, are top priorities.
Synopsis:
Representative Schneider emphasized the importance of responsibility to voice support for a just democracy, that it is the responsibility of each link in the chain of command. As a Republican, Representative Schneider worked on many key environmental issues, and ran on the platform of pollution and human rights. She pioneered bills that included ideas such as regenerative agriculture in the 1980s, with bi-partisan sponsorship, and also implemented energy ratings for appliances to ensure more efficient household use.
Dr. Doty’s work has focused on gathering businesses together to envision and concretize the role of businesses with government affairs. Much of her work has culminated in the Erb Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility, serving as a guide for businesses. In particular, she touches upon the importance of engaging where companies have made a clear commitment to employees, and deferring to civil society to respond to voters where there are no corporate commitments. This includes upholding fiduciary responsibility, which has been cited as one of the top reasons for distrust in companies. Being transparent about trade associations giving and other forms of giving is integral.
Mr. York builds several strategic recommendations for companies spanning on the legislation front. First, companies can privately engage deeply with legislators to build legislation that contributes to a more stable country. There is such a thing as finding the middle in terms of being public versus private about policies. These legislations can include protecting poor people from violence, to generative AI and misinformation. Companies should definitely publicly state anti-violence stances to get ahead of concerns on violence and lack of rule of law, which will set the ground for potential futures with political violence. Net, companies should have a policy on employees’ expression of political support and be a trusted source of information for employees. To most people, their place of employment is the top institution that they engage with, and being able to build a mutually trusting relationship is crucial. For example, employees have voiced wanting a private forum with individuals in similar positions at other companies facing similar issues.
Think about how you can reframe the narrative in cultural attacks, as businesses, in addition to people, suffer greatly when rule of law breaks down, and lean into public and private sector pathways to make decisions.
Lisa Woll: The Evolving ESG Landscape: How Might Investors’ Expectations of Companies Shift in the Coming Years?
As the ex-CEO of the U.S. Forum for Sustainable Investment (USSIF), Lisa has seen and led pivotal changes in the investment sector. Impact investing began as a private equity conversation, with other discussions converging to form the ESG movement that exists today. As greenwashing critiques emerged towards firms that claim to do basic ESG integration, more scrutiny and backlash on ESG grew. In July 2023, the House Financial Committee held an anti-ESG month to stop the SEC climate rule-making and obstruct financial regulators, but the bills passed to impede ESG in investor decisions were not passed by the Senate.
Lisa emphasizes that in addition to the Presidential election outcome, the outcome of the House, Senate, and other cabinet positions play a significant role in the sustainability and ESG landscape. For example, the Return and Income Security Act (RISA) can be an indicator as to where investments are going. Like Ouroboros, Congress is in a perpetuity of destruction and creation of different laws. Within that cycle, however, movements in organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other trade associations, and individuals within government committees or branches of government can be observed as pathways of change. This is particularly true for the state level.
Talking to different organizations across perspectives and value chains, for example the American Petroleum Organization, Ceres, ICCR, and more to try and influence the associations and money flow to impact the private sector can make a difference.
Crucially, this time of reckoning with ESG can also foment growth and maturity. As Lisa says, we should reconsider the scope and definition of ESG, and potentially drive towards the next iteration of this evolving landscape, and level the terminology and standardization in a digestible way. This is a point of inflection, with a culmination of factors: generational wealth is transferring to millennials in the next decade who are more mission-driven investors, companies are willing to work behind the scenes, and redefining ESG as a whole all with the backdrop of the election.
Larry Selzer: Permitting Reform to Enable the Energy Transition in Balance with Nature and People
Currently permit reform impedes both right-wing and left-wing backed infrastructure and energy projects. In working across land/resource based issues, and finding pathways in between the need to conserve nature and build needed infrastructure, Larry Selzer has been at the forefront of brokering these negotiations.
Larry details a “grand bargain” for infrastructure, where industry, government agencies, and the activist community find common ground on bespoke solutions for infrastructure build-out. These conversations can be more productive with local organizations, such as land trusts, where the people working and living in that community have a more intimate stake and understanding with the land. Many communities along infrastructure corridors need access to that infrastructure to support economic activities such as tourism, which would allow for more jobs.
As Larry says, it’s imperative to “protect land for people, not from people”. Larry believes in standing-up the industry and conservation funds to put forth innovation on projects, leaders to provide a path forward, and a vision for both scale and conservation. That is the grand bargain.
Future 500 is a non-profit consultancy that builds trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists to advance business as a force for good. We specialize in stakeholder engagement, sustainability strategy, and responsible communication. From stakeholder mapping to materiality assessments, partnership development to activist engagement, target setting to CSR reporting strategy, we empower our partners with the skills and relationships needed to systemically tackle today's most pressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges.
Want to learn more? Reach out any time.
More from our team:
