RCE-CFA Society Mauritius hybrid workshop on “Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Shaping the Future – Challenges and Opportunities”

Session 1 of the workshop covered the basics and principles of the ESG Framework, and it was explicitly on the 3 pillars of ESG.

Ms Julia Susanne Orlich, IMC, Director, Partnerships & Client Solutions, EMEA gave an introduction on ESG, her presentation was divided into three parts: (i) the trends of ESG; (ii) ESG investing and (iii) the risks around climate. She explained the importance of ESG and the growing interest from investors. She further mentioned there is a growing interest in ESG research. ESG investing was another key point brought up by the speaker. She explained how ESG investing was about the values of making investment decisions and creating positive investment returns. Several key points were discussed with regard to ESG investing as a good investment key.

Session 2 of the workshop consisted of three (3) presentations namely:

Mr. Saurav Chatterjee, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Care Rating Africa Private Limited (CRAF) explained how ESG considerations are incorporated into an organisation. He elaborated on a case study on Legal & General Investment Management in the UK. LGIM is a UK-based asset manager with GBP 1 trillion in assets under management. The speaker further explained the challenges faced during the ESG assessment which could be divided into 4 parts:

1. Low level of disclosures currently along with a lack of standardisation: Unlike financial data, regulations surrounding non-financial data are still evolving, leading to a lack of standardisation in reporting.
2. Evolving regulations: Multiple global frameworks and reporting norms which are evolving globally and locally make it challenging to adopt a holistic approach to reporting.
3. Sectoral differences: Each sector has its own unique traits and materiality with respect to environmental, social and governance risks. This needed to be adequately captured through ESG frameworks as one size fits all doesn't work.
4. Greenwashing: Focus on only compliance and policies could result in greenwashing, wherein, actual performance and integration of ESG with business plans was lacking.

Ms. Josina Kamerling Julia, Head of Regulatory Outreach for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, CFA Institute presented on ‘Enhancing Investors’ Trust’.  She mentioned that it was crucial for investors to have confidence in the financial system and that sustainability is important as those two would be a big challenge for both investors and the financial industry.

Mr. Randhir Mannick, Chief Investment Officer African Alliance, delved into the impact investment stating that as much as the financial covenant is important, but so is the social covenant/impact covenant. Impact investment should be executed with a clear intent like investment for social and environmental impact, whereby a return is expected from this investment.

The workshop marked its end with a presentation by Ms Julia Susanne Orlich, IMC, Director, Partnerships & Client Solutions, EMEA on the overview of the certificate in ESG.

Click here to access the dedicated page for the hybrid event.

Stay connected with RCE