IBM
By Justina Nixon-Saintill, vice president, corporate social responsibility and ESG at IBM
At no time in the past 50 years has the mandate on companies for non-financial metrics — or what we now call environmental, social and governance or ESG — been so clear: Amid the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial and gender inequity dialogue in the United States, a renewed sense of global urgency has moved economic hardship, the impacts of climate change, and the prioritization of equity and ethics into the spotlight.
Organizations are increasingly expected to understand the impacts of their operations around the world — and consider how to respond to and navigate geopolitical conflict, a warming planet, and the quest for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. These issues are more than a trend — they are the part of a corporation's license to operate, and a recruitment tool.
IBM is responding to such societal demands by refocusing its ESG practice around IBM Impact: A new framework designed to develop a more sustainable, equitable, and ethical future for the company, our partners, our employees, and the world. At the heart of this framework are three pillars which represent the areas we believe are in greatest need, where we can have the most impact: Securing the environment, ensuring equity and inclusion, and prioritizing ethics and accountability.
None of these areas of focus are new for IBM. Environmental leadership has been a strategic imperative for over 50 years in our operations, and in how we apply our technologies to accelerate solutions to global environmental challenges.
IBM has long made equal pay for equal work a fundamental practice in its compensation. The company supports its workers by increasing their opportunities through investments, partnership programs, external advocacy, and legislation. And IBM's innovations, policies, and practices prioritize trust, transparency, and accountability, with the company acting as a responsible steward of technology and always considering the ethics and impact of technological innovations. That's why, for example, IBM decided in 2020 it would no longer sell general-purpose facial recognition technology, which can be used in ways that violate human rights.
Of course, large societal challenges are beyond the ability of any single public or private entity to overcome. But IBM knows that by collaborating with our partners we can drive innovation and advance progress against inequalities, climate change, and practices that don't center on ethics and risk-planning.
This is evident with our commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It is why we are partnering with many institutions across the globe to skill 30 million people by 2030, focusing on underrepresented communities. And it has fueled our intention to join with 1,000 IBM ecosystem partners to provide technology ethics training by the end of this year.
So, we ask other companies to join us as ESG enablers. It is only through leveraging the collective intelligence of an expanding community that we can hope to address current and future risks. Reporting and commitments to address urgent societal and environmental issues like climate, cybersecurity, and social cohesion aren't just necessary — they are critical to our continued prosperity.
A widening of cybersecurity, educational, and practical skills gaps resulting from the pandemic, and the huge digital transformation that we are experiencing has compounded social fractures. A concerted effort to address these issues can repair the trajectories that we now face. Companies and nonprofits — organizations with power in a society — must take it upon themselves to deploy new mechanisms to respond to shifting crises. Not every effort will be successful. But making the effort, through principled decisions, clear commitments, and effective communication, is what is required to help maintain societal trust.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sCvppYhciCs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This post was created by IBM with Insider Studios.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/the-role-of-corporations-in-shaping-the-new-esg-landscape