Economic, social and ecological sustainability (ESG), along with regulation (governance, risk and compliance) and the digital transformation,
is the megatrend of the next dec-ades that will influence the private lives of all people, but also governments, organizations under public and private law,
and the fundamentally new worlds of work.
However, what sustainable (ESG) leadership (governance) means in concrete terms and how it can be implemented effectively and efficiently is decidedly regulated, but largely unknown.
Broken down from organization-wide vision, mission, mission statement, goal setting, corporate strategy and planning to the area of economic, social,
environmental sustainability (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), mandatory and voluntarily agreed management goals and strategy must be documented,
planned and communicated in a measurable/verifiable (SMART) manner.
Globally, the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a guide to sustainable development for many organizations.
Mandatory sustainability reporting - the so-called CSR reporting obligation - was introduced in Germany in 2017 (Section 289 HGB).
The CSR reporting obligation is based on the EU Directive 2014/95/EU. The sustainability report is a non-financial corporate reporting and is based on the
guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). In addition, it must be integrated into the annual report.
The minimum requirements that must be addressed in the sustainability report are environmental, social and employee concerns,
respect for human rights, and the fight against corruption and bribery.
More and more organizations / companies are reporting on their sustainability activities.
Quote from: www.globalreporting.ord/standards:
"In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development set the ambitious goal of sustainable development - in its words,
"development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.".
The GRI Standards create a common language for organizations and stakeholders to communicate and understand the economic, environmental and social impacts of organizations.
The standards serve to improve the global comparability and quality of information on these impacts.
At the same time, they provide for greater transparency and a stronger fulfillment of the accountability of organizations.
Sustainability reporting based on the GRI Standards should present an organization's positive and negative contributions to the goal of
sustainable development in as balanced and reasonable a manner as possible.
The information contained in sustainability reports allows internal and external stake-holders to form an opinion and make informed decisions
in light of the contributions of the organization concerned to the goal of sustainable development.[...]"
Currently, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Taxonomy Regulation and many other regulations are being adopted.
The German Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act regulates sustainability in the supply chain.
Relevant standards in the area of governance and corporate social responsibility:
In 2021, DIN's standards committee 175-00-01 AA developed the globally applicable ISO 37000:2021 Guidance for the Governance of Organizations.
According to this, the core area of governance includes the following:
- mission, values, culture
- sustainable value creation
- strategy
- legal framework
- sense of responsibility
- responsibility to stakeholders
- leadership and values
- data and information
- risk-based corporate governance
- social responsibility
- sustainability
In the area of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, there are many other extremely current standards at UN, OECD and national level.
Numerous individual laws and jurisdiction deal with mandatory sub-areas of ESG and GRC, for example: environmental law, labor law,
occupational health and safety law, criminal and administrative offence law, and many more.
The objectives of the Integrated Sustainability (ESGRC) Management System are (not exhaustive):
Compliance with mandatory requirements and
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in the area of decision-making scope: appropriate decisions and planning as well as the control and monitoring of necessary measures that promote the
fulfillment of management requirements and the achievement of stakeholder satisfaction, in particular in the area of economic, social and environmental sustainability (ESG).
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identifying, assessing and managing risks (threats and opportunities or the impact of uncertainties on the achievement of the company's objectives) in order to
optimally reduce the number and extent of threats posed by weaknesses in the integrated sustainability (ESGRC) management system and to seize opportunities appropriately, and
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to detect and control management goal deviations and/or violations at an early stage,
which cannot be completely ruled out even despite a functioning integrated sustainability (ESGRC) management system.
