Public Policy

The public policy challenge: How to engage with policy makes on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues

December 2007 saw the international community decide to adopt the "Bali roadmap" agreement on climate change but how does such a policy influence investment policy frameworks worldwide and how can business and institutional investors be more active in the overall process. Over the last years, international bodies and governments have started to define new policies and legal frameworks around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that will significantly influence daily business practices. On some issue the corporate sector and investors have been engaged in the discussions and contributed to the shaping of solutions, but this has not yet become the norm. On the other hand, in some areas related to environmental, social and governance issues regulations and policies need to be further strengthened or detailed in order to provide a level playing field to companies and to support voluntary corporate actions. Companies have an incentive to support the shaping of regulation but are often at a loss how to be engage in such processes. The session will showcase existing examples of engagements between companies or investors and policy makers and explore the following questions: