ESG Insights: The essence of “S” in ESG
In this podcast, Sayooj Thekkevariath, EY India Climate Change and Sustainability Services Partner, talks about the essence of ‘S’ in ESG, or the social part of the sustainability journey, with an emphasis on community impact or CSR.
In conversation with:
Sayooj Thekkevariath
EY India Climate Change and Sustainability Services Partner
Podcast host Silloo Jangalwala, Associate Director, BMC, speaks to Sayooj Thekkevariath, from Climate Change and Sustainability Services at EY India, about how organizations’ social program agenda is evolving and the changing CSR landscape in India, especially considering the policy amendments.
Key takeaways
- Organizations are increasingly paying attention to the ‘S’ or social in their ESG agenda, which means including employees, value chain partners, and the community at large in the development programs.
- The approach at the policy as well as organization levels is to promote a collaborative approach so that business imperatives and social needs converge.
- Companies’ outlook toward CSR activities has become more structured, with a focus on transparency, monitoring and evaluation.
- Organizations must design their social program strategy on the following criteria:
- Its contribution to the overall ESG agenda
- Creation of a shared value
- Level of engagement with stakeholders
- Level and method of creating impact
- For an impactful social program, organizations must help NGO partners and implementing agencies increase their capacity by using digital tools to capture data effectively.
As a best practice, one must understand the return on every rupee spent. So, it is a good idea to carry out a social return on investment, an SROI study. Companies must look at a social impact assessment.
For your convenience, a full text transcript of this podcast is available on the link below: Read the transcript
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Podcast
Duration 10m 49s
