Mr. Bill Sisson is executive director, North America, for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a 25-year-old alliance of more than 200 companies with $8.5 trillion of combined revenue who are committed to sustainable business. He explains how the principle of pre-competitive collaboration is helping companies not only protect the environment, but weather global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, host Jared Downing discusses how ESG rankings are coming into their own, and a Rhode Island-sized ice berg is running rampant in the Southern Sea. News update at minute 0:45. Interview at 1:33. Jared’s commentary at 19:03.
In this episode…
- Host Jared Downing begins with the usual climate news update, this time about a massive iceberg that is floating towards the overseas British territory of South Georgia, threatening its delicate ecosystems.
- Next, Mr. Bill Sisson discusses how WBCSD, one of the oldest and largest sustainability alliances, is furthering the practice of “pre-competitive collaboration” to promote sustainable business practices across nearly all major economic sectors. This is not a merely altruistic endeavor, he says: Climate change poses serious risk in the long and short term, and preparing for it has helped WBCSD members fair better amid present crises, especially the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Finally, Jared breaks discusses this piece by Climate Finance Weekly editor John Howell about the present and future of ESG rankings. ESG rankings are many and varied, and they lack proper standardization. But many rankers are working together to make the whole industry better. At any rate, imperfect ESG is better than no ESG.
