Environmental, Social & Governance Guide 2023

INTRODUCTION

The sustainability movement has been increasing in momentum over the past number of years-both on a global scale and in South Africa. There has been a mass mobilisation of the younger generation around climate change, the most outspoken being Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg. She addressed the World Economic Forum Annual meeting in 2020 at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, stating: "why is it so important to stay below 1.5 degrees celsius? Because even at 1 degree people are dying from climate change ... with today's emissions levels, the remaining budget is gone within less than eight years."

There have been some positive developments recently. There is a growing acceptance and integration of Environmental, Social and Governance principles among South African corporates, who are recognising that this is essential to attracting investment and aligning with global expectations of corporate responsibility and sustainable impact.