Since 1987, the World Business Academy has focused on the role business can and should play in solving humanity’s largest challenges. Our focus on climate change and energy security results from an analysis of the most important threats to human survival and thus the survival of business.
Given this prime directive, it logically follows that the Academy would find common ground for collaboration with Ceres, a sustainability organization working with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy. Through powerful networks and advocacy, Ceres tackles the world’s biggest sustainability challenges, including climate change, water scarcity, pollution, and inequitable workplaces.
The urgent need for business leadership in combatting the environmental and social issues facing humanity could not be more immediate. Diminishing global resources are reaching the point of no return, and business as a human institution must take immediate action to preserve its most precious asset: the global marketplace called Earth. But how can business enterprise break itself free from the quarterly profit cycle dictated by traditional investment values?
Today, the Academy and Ceres are more focused than ever on the need for boards of directors to act as stewards for corporate performance and exercise informed and effective oversight in implementing sustainable environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. A two-page summary by Ceres concerning Board Oversight of Climate and Sustainability can be downloaded here: Ceres_Governance_2019.
The Academy’s 32-year campaign in concert with Ceres to fundamentally change the ethos of business culminated this month in the Business Roundtable’s Statement Redefining the Purpose of a Corporation to Promote ‘An Economy That Serves All Americans.’ This statement, signed by CEOs of the most prominent corporations representing a wide range of industries, represents a concrete first step in establishing business as a positive restorative force in addressing society’s major challenges.
Given his progressive philosophy on ESG practices and past experience promoting sustainable business practices on the Board of Tailored Brands/Mens Wearhouse, Rinaldo was interviewed for an upcoming Ceres report on board oversight of risks posed by sustainability issues and will be participating in a November 18 “ESG Bootcamp” panel discussion concerning board oversight of climate change risks.
