ESG or environmental, social and governance issues have risen to the fore in recent years. Investors are looking for opportunities that go beyond the financial return on investment. They want to know that what they are investing on will have consequential benefits to the environment. 

For CFOs, applying ESG initiatives cuts two-ways. What the company invests in, and who are those investing in the company.

In today’s PodChats for FutureCFO, we are joined by Jef Lacson, regional deputy CFO for Asia, Pacific Cross International, to look into some of the ESG issues of importance to the CFO, and why the CFO and the finance team are best suited to drive an organisation’s ESG initiative.

1. How do you see the role of CFOs in driving the success of their company’s ESG initiatives?

2. As CFOs address the issues around ESG, how should they prepare for this? Where should they start? What do they need to know?

3. Investors, stakeholders and management are increasingly asking companies to give quantifiable metrics for their ESG initiatives. Many analysts say that the finance department with its experience in compiling and reporting is a natural fit for this task. However, many CFOs still see non-financial metrics around ESG as costs. How can CFOs, who set their sights on ROIs, translate these non-financial metrics as a source of value?

4. Should companies integrate their ESG reporting with their financial reporting? Why?

5. Based on your observation, how are companies in Asia Pacific doing in moving forward their ESG strategies and initiatives – and how engaged are the CFOs and the finance department in these initiatives?

6. What are the challenges CFOs face in helping drive their company’s ESG commitments and how can they resolve them?