ISLAMABAD: There is growing acceptance by business to adopt responsible environment, social and governance (ESG) conduct to drive financial performance for shareholders and social and economic wellbeing of other stakeholders.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) jointly hosted a webinar entitled ‘CEO talks: Managing for Sustainability’. The webinar featured insights from Shabana Khawar, IFC’s regional head of advisory.

Ralitza Germanova, Corporate Governance Officer, IFC presented the current ESG landscape stressing the growing importance of disclosure and transparency. In the discussion moderated by Ehsan Malik, CEO PBC with the CEOs of PSX, Engro Corporation and Dawlance Group of Industries, there was unanimous agreement on how sustainability is becoming a more important factor for investors and that in the long-term, firms which act responsibly are will be more successful.

“Capital flows will dictate the pace of adoption of ESG and we can clearly see that companies that integrate ESG are attracting a higher level of investment in both equity and debt,” remarked Farrukh Khan, CEO, PSX.

Ghias Khan, CEO Engro Corporation highlighted the role that Millennials are playing in driving responsible actions. Ummer Ahsan Khan, CEO Dawlance stressed the importance of ensuring that suppliers and distributors also accord by the same standards of responsibility as the company.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022