Certified ESG Professional (CESG Pro-Associate Level)

Course details

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has gained increasing attention over the past few years, with many institutional investors investing only in those companies that provide ESG performance reporting. In fact, ESG has considerations relevant to analysts and investors, consumers and employees, and has become a key topic of discussion at the Board table. This course provides an overview of an ESG framework and how it supports a companys overall risk management. It examines each component in detail and provides insight into how they converge to impact a company and its stakeholders. The course also discusses how to look at corporate pressures & stakeholder expectations and their impact on risk identification and business success.

ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance) is a framework designed to be integrated into an organization's strategy to create enterprise value by expanding the organizational objectives to include the identification, assessment and management of sustainability-related risks and opportunities in respect to all organizational stakeholders (including but not limited to customers, suppliers and employees) and the environment Environmental aspect: focuses on preserving the natural world. Examples of topics addressed include climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pollution, energy efficiency and water management Social aspect: focuses on people and relationships include working to support gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion movements in addition to enhancing customer satisfaction and employee engagement Governance aspect: focuses on moving beyond how organizations have been typically governed in the past and enhance corporate governance. Examples of specific topics include board composition, cybersecurity practices, management structure, executive compensation, preventing bribery and corruption

A variety of organizations and financial institutions have devised ways to measure the extent to which a specific corporation is aligned with ESG goals. The most prominent global movement in this regards is the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by United Nations.

This course is the based on research and useful compilation of videos put together in one place for better understanding and motivational to understand the fundamentals of ESG and moving forward to next levels

Overview of E, S, and G

1. Environmental

Environmental factors refer to an organizations environmental impact(s) and risk management practices. These include direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, managements stewardship over natural resources, and the firms overall resiliency against physical climate risks (like climate change, flooding, and fires).

2. Social

The social pillar refers to an organizations relationships with stakeholders. Examples of factors that a firm may be measured against include Human Capital Management (HCM) metrics (like fair wages and employee engagement) but also an organizations impact on the communities in which it operates.

A hallmark of ESG is how social impact expectations have extended outside the walls of the company and to supply chain partners, particularly those in developing economies where environmental and labor standards may be less robust.

3. Governance

Corporate governance refers to how an organization is led and managed. ESG analysts will seek to understand better how leaderships incentives are aligned with stakeholder expectations, how shareholder rights are viewed and honoured, and what types of internal controls exist to promote transparency and accountability on the part of leadership.