Experts task secretaries on corporate sustainability

Company secretaries have been urged to incorporate the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in their day-to-day activities in driving the interest and investment on sustainability for the mutual benefit of their organisation and investors.

The benefits, experts said, are pertinent as leading sustainability businesses display high levels of competence in addressing global and industry challenges.

The ESG refers to the inclusion of traditionally non-financial topics within investment decision-making.

At the 2019 public lecture of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), in Lagos, Lead Consultant, Thistle Praxis Consulting Limited, Ini Abimbola, who explained the role of the company secretary in sustainability, said it was essentially how professionals can support the board’s emerging ESG mandate.

As sustainability has become a business imperative, she advised that it was essential that boards provide stewardship and oversight over a company’s sustainability performance.

Abimbola, the keynote speaker, spoke on the theme: “Understanding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) as a strategy for Corporate Sustainability”.

Similarly, Head, Corporate Communications, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Olumide Orojimi, who listed some of the benefits of incorporating ESG/Corporate Sustainability, also disclosed how the Exchange is playing its role in investing in a sustainable future.

According to him, the NSE recognises its crucial role in supporting economic growth by ensuring an efficient and sustainable capital market.

Earlier, in his opening remark, President and Chairman of Council, ICSAN, Samuel Kolawole, urged company secretaries to always broaden their knowledge, as ESG is not only for the corporate sector alone, but the government and individual.

He said the annual lecture is one of the Institute’s ways of relating with the society and preservation of the environment, through focused topics.