ESG (short for environmental, social and governance) is a hot
topic but what is it and do students' unions need an ESG
strategy?
ESG is a set of standards used to help stakeholders understand
an organisation's wider impact on the world, rather than
measuring purely financial performance. ESG is well established in
the investment and corporate worlds and we are now seeing it on the
rise amongst the charity sector too.
The 'E' stands for environmental and relates to how an
organisation interacts with and impacts on its surrounding
environment, this includes things such as resource use and waste
produced.
The 'S' stands for social and is concerned with how an
organisation interacts with its stakeholders (for example its
students, staff and trustees), as well as how it contributes to the
wider society.