ESG News and Views

In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 3: India, he sits down with Sandeep Makkar, Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson, Medical India and Prabhat Pani, Senior Advisor, Partnerships & Technology at Tata Trusts, to discuss how COVID-19 is impacting the country’s healthcare system, economy, and how their businesses are responding to the challenges and effects of the pandemic.

COVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe.

In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 2: Latin America, he sits down with Sandro Mesquita, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Sustainability for Latin America, AT&T, and Maria Luiza de Oliveira Pinto e Paiva, Director of Sustainability, Suzano, to learn how COVID-19 is impacting South America, the resulting economic crisis, and how their companies stepping up to provide critical support.

COVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe.

In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 1: Africa, he sits down with Dorcas Onyango, Head of Sustainability, Southern & East Africa Business Unit, Coca-Cola, and Ruth Lewin, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Discovery Limited, to learn more about how the pandemic is impacting the African continent and how their businesses are stepping up to provide critical support for their employees, first responders, and the nation.

From Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock to the Gates Foundation, leaders from the investment and philanthropic worlds are making public and bold statements about climate change. Paul Washington, head of the ESG Center, speaks with Carl Pope, former Executive Director & Chairman of the Sierra Club and Satyajit Bose, Columbia University Professor about the roles of asset managers and philanthropists in addressing climate change.

COVID-19 is creating an evolving situation with varied impacts around the world. For the nonprofit sector, which relies heavily on financial support from fundraising events and other public programs, the disruption from physical distancing has created a new set of challenges. In addition to the government response, what role should businesses and corporate foundations play during this crisis to support charitable organizations and communities most in need? Lindsay Beltzer, Program Manager of The Conference Board’s ESG Center, chats with Dan Cardinali, CEO of Independent Sector and Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, on how businesses and nonprofits are coming together and evolving their partnership models in the face of the pandemic. 

To learn more about this episode’s guest, Dan Cardinali and the work of The Independent Sector, please visit https://independentsector.org/.

Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School Professor and author discusses her new book, ‘Reimaging Capitalism in a World on Fire,’ which explores why we need to, and how we can, build a more profitable, equitable, and sustainable capitalism. In conversation with Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s ESG Center, this interview addresses the role of the private sector in tackling some of the biggest environmental, economic, and social issues of our time.

Dottie Schindlinger from the Diligent Institute interviews with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the Environmental, Social & Governance Center at The Conference Board, about climate change, where it ranks as a priority for CEOs and Directors, and the potential impact of Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs and the Davos Manifesto on corporate disclosures and practices.

There are over 40,000 cases of coronavirus, concentrated in China, but the outbreak is now reaching over two dozen countries across the globe. A health crisis like this demands a government response, but what is the corporate response? Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s Environmental, Social and Governance Center, chats with a team of experts on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders worldwide are marshalling resources to respond to this health crisis. 

Among the issues this podcast covers:

• How are global CSR leaders responding to the coronavirus outbreak?
• What are key lessons learned from previous outbreaks, such as SARS and Ebola?
• How does the CSR response to a global health crisis differ from natural disasters?
• What can companies do now to prepare for the next potential outbreak?

Host

Paul Washington, Executive Director, Environmental, Social and Governance Center, The Conference Board

Participants

Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, Environmental, Social and Governance Center, The Conference Board

Anke Schrader, Senior Researcher, Asia Pacific, The Conference Board

Chuck Mitchell, Executive Director, Knowledge Content & Quality, The Conference

The second of two interviews with former NY law partner Jamie Gamble, who has written that corporations “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths” -- that is, in the narrow economic interest of stockholders.  In this interview Jamie discusses his proposed changes to the law to make it easier for corporations to act in the best interests of society at large.

From The Conference Board ESG Center, this is the first of two interviews with Jamie Gamble on his essay, “The Most Important Problem in the World.”  Gamble traces major global challenges from climate change to economic inequality to corporations who, Gamble asserts, “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths.”  A provocative statement from a former partner of a major New York law firm.

This interview addresses whether corporations are obligated to act as sociopaths.  The second interview focuses on Jamie’s views on how to make it easier for corporations to act in the best interest of society at large.

ESG News and Views, from The Conference Board’s ESG Center, provides compelling in-depth interviews with ESG influencers, and timely updates on hot button environmental, social, and governance topics.

In this first episode, Alex Parkinson is joined by Elizabeth Roscoe, Global Head, Corporate Brand & Purpose and Executive Director, Western Union Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s new goal to invest $15 million within three years, with a focus on empowering displaced and marginalized youth to succeed in today’s technology driven global economy.