The Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria (CIoD) has urged directors to increase integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into their boardroom strategies to drive sustainable growth.
The institute also urged directors to imbibe ethical and sustainable business practices.
Alhaji Tijjani Borodo, President of the institute, said this at the induction of new members of the institute on Thursday night in Lagos.
The event had the theme: “Driving Sustainable Growth: Integrating ESG Principles into Boardroom Strategies”.
Borodo noted that, globally, there had been increasing emphasis on adoption and implementation of ESG sustainability principles by companies to drive growth and ensure long-term business success.
According to him, a well-structured ESG framework aims to assess the performance of an organisation, considering factors such as impact on the environment and the society.
“The world has faced a number of environmental challenges, such as climate change resulting in many variants of weather abnormalities directly connected to industrialisation and pollution.
“As the world struggles to cope with these abnormalities, more attention has been drawn to the impact of industrial production and business decisions on the environment.
“Also, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of social issues such as gender inequality, inclusiveness, etc., which have direct impact on social sustainability principles.
“Finally, governance issues such as corruption and corporate transparency are under greater scrutiny than ever before; hence, the importance of ensuring good corporate governance as a sustainability principle,” he said.
Borodo charged CIoD members to remain steadfast in their support for the institute for its growth and development, as well as adoption of ethical and sustainable business practices across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Mrs Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Member, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), urged business organisations and governments to deploy strategies hinged on ESG to drive economic growth.
Nnoli-Edozien said that integration of (ISSB) standards was a critical part of governance.
The ISSB standards are designed to ensure that companies provide sustainability-related information alongside financial statements in the same reporting package.
She said that ISSB standards could deliver access to more consistent, comparable, verifiable and comprehensive disclosures for investors, as well as deliver positive effects on areas such as governance, strategy and access to capital, for companies.
According to Nnoli-Edozien, a company’s ability to deliver financial value for investors is linked to the stakeholders with which it works and serves, the society in which it operates, and the natural resources from which it draws.
“As a board, when you are approving your financial accounts or your financial statements, you are also going to be approving your sustainability related disclosures.
“On the shoulders of directors of today rests the building of more resilient companies that are well positioned to attract the significant capital flows that are out there in the world.
“This can happen particularly looking at the African countries and giants such as Nigeria with huge economic and environmental potential,” she said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Source: News Agency of Nigeria