Directors are spending more time focusing on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues—a growing topic in board and investor circles. Earlier this year, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s letter to to the chief executives of the world’s largest public companies reiterated the importance of ESG and corporate citizenship.
In the video above, Corporate Board Member recently sat down with Granville Martin, senior vice president and general counsel, Society for Corporate Governance to talk about ESG and what board members should be paying attention to. Three key takeaways from the discussion:
- Fink’s letter and the focus on ESG issues. Larry Fink’s letter is part and parcel of the overall trend of investors, beyond BlackRock, asking about ESG.
- The focus moving forward. The issues that investors are raising most frequently are climate change, general environmental impact and board diversity.
- The challenges of measuring success. There are a lot of moving parts to this debate, and it puts a premium on corporate secretaries and board members paying close attention to how things are shifting.
