When stakeholders want a look at a company’s ESG record, it’s easy to head to its website and wade through reports, audits and press releases. But sometimes, this just isn’t enough. Going deeper requires more detective work and often yields surprising results from unfamiliar sources. Dylan Tanner, executive director of InfluenceMap, leads a team that analyses financial disclosures, investor communications, hard scientific data and social media, as well as issuing freedom of information requests, to get clear, fact based insights into the real ESG footprint of a company. Armed with this information, investors, corporate leaders and policymakers are empowered with a true understanding of where a company stands on its commitment to help combat the climate crisis -- including the funding of research and lobbying that may run counter to public commitments -- and can make better-informed decisions to guide policies to create a cleaner and more responsible business culture.

Dylan Tanner co-founded InfluenceMap in 2015, on the eve of the Paris Climate Agreement. Today, InfluenceMap provides bespoke analysis of the climate agenda and has been used by hundreds of investors and informed numerous campaigns. The organisation is best known for its platform for analysing corporate lobbying on climate policy. As Executive Director, Dylan holds overall responsibility for its global operations.

(0:00) Begin

(1:24) Dylan introduction and how InfluenceMap works

(5:03) How do you collect and compile data at InfluenceMap?

(6:01) How do you make sure your findings are as accurate and robust as possible?

(7:43) Are you optimistic about the future with what you see at an event like the recent COP28?

(10:36) How does a consumer or investor know which companies are good actors or bad actors?

(12:40) Do companies ever disagree with your ratings, or can we simply say the facts are the facts?

(15:28) Do you think most companies ‘get it’ and are moving beyond superficial box-ticking?

(17:01) Are ratings agencies that also offer consulting services to clients a conflict of interests?

(18:29) You talk about how companies need to have a ‘whole-of-system approach’. What does that mean and how does it work?

(20:55) What strategies can companies use to achieve more robust trust, truth and transparency with stakeholders?

(24:10) Will the issue be helped by more corporate leaders becoming more familiar with the science of climate change?

(25:37) Where can we go to get news so we can remain well-informed without being overwhelmed with news?

(26:47) The Takeaway: What advice do you have for corporate leaders who want to get things right, and how can consumers train themselves to look beyond the window dressing?

(29:56) Host wrap-up

Getting more than 100,000 employees to buy into the idea that ESG and sustainability makes good business sense can be a monumental task. BASF, which operates across diverse sectors ranging from healthcare products to petrochemical solutions, works hard to make sustainability a core part of every employee’s work ethic. Effective communication that resonates with teams across vastly different cultures, social strata and job roles is critical to make the sustainability message stick. Marko Jelicic, Communications & Advocacy for BASF South East Asia Pte. Ltd., discusses how BASF created, nurtured and has grown such a culture, and how he avoids the “sea of sameness” that marks the death knell of corporate sustainability efforts.

Marko Jelicic is responsible for Communications & Advocacy for BASF South East Asia Pte. Ltd. He has been with the company for 11 years.

(0:00) Begin

(1:19) Marko introduction

(2:23) How does a giant company like BASF engage with stakeholders about sustainability?

(7:24) How does BASF embed a culture of sustainability in its workforce?

(10:02) Do BASF employees see their job as one within the realm of sustainability?

(11:27) How does technology play a role in embedding sustainability in a workforce that is widely distributed and might not even work in an office?

(12:31) What has worked really well and not so well when it comes to communicating with your workforce?

(15:59) How does BASF handle criticisms of its sustainability efforts from rating agencies or advocacy groups?

(23:02) What is the role of communicators in helping to build ESG capabilities within organisations?

(27:49) How does BASF measure the impact of its communications efforts?

(30:16) How does BASF measure its impact on sustainability?

(32:57) The Takeaway – What practical steps can communicators take to start thinking about sustainability and how to communicate effectively about it?

(36:09) Host wrap-up

The issue of gender inclusion, equality and equity is a hotly debated topic in many western workplaces, but change often comes more slowly in Asia’s more conservative company cultures. After an off-the-cuff social media post in 2018, Cindy ‘Sirinya’ Bishop sparked the #DontTellMeHowToDress social movement that brought the harrowing reality of gender-based violence in Thailand to the fore and helped push for greater gender equality and inclusion. Using her platform to move the conversation from the public square into the boardroom, her focus is on highlighting how a safer, more diverse and equal workplace will be more creative, innovative and productive. In environments where women need to work harder and speak louder simply to be heard, this often requires grassroots initiatives to push things forward. Cindy also confronts the problem with hollow displays of tokenism and explores how to remove gendered roadblocks that prevent companies from evolving.

Cindy Bishop is a television host, actor, model, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador to Asia Pacific, and founder of the #DontTellMeHowToDress social movement against sexual assault and gender-based violence.

(0:00) Begin

(1:13) Cindy introduction

(2:44) What sparked you to become a gender and diversity advocate?

(7:08) How do you adapt the narrative to fit a Thai or Asian context?

(14:08) Has the modern workplace seen progress in terms of gender equality?

(18:14) Have you ever experienced a real pushback?

(19:30) What type of biases do women struggle against in businesses in patriarchal societies?

(22:34) Tell us about the book you’ve written to teach these things to Thai children

(25:58) Tell us about your corporate training programs that teach these things to women in the workplace, such as golf caddies

(29:02) The Takeaway: What steps can smaller companies take to begin implementing workplace equality measures?

(31:11) Wrap-up and goodbye

(32:04) Host wrap-up