Key ESG Themes for Financial Services for 2024

In this short video, our Climate Change Advisory and Sustainability Services Partner, Sean and Climate Change Advisory and Sustainability Services Manager, Syreel outline 5 key themes related to ESG and how the financial sector is dealing with the challenges and opportunities in this area.

During 2024, across the financial services sector, the pace of regulation and change continues as the sector focuses on building capability and meeting changing customer needs.

• The CSRD implementation is advancing, and financial institutions are focusing on achieving limited assurance, establishing governance and control.
• In terms of sustainability strategy, significant commitments are being made, such as the Net Zero Industry Act driving sustainable finance.
• Key steps for the financial sector include ensuring the right frameworks and measuring real economy effects.
• For net zero and decarbonisation, clients need dynamic dashboards resilient to externalities.
• Social sustainability, particularly the “S” in ESG, is gaining importance with a socially conscious approach to AI and value chain considerations under CSDDD. Finally, increased accountability for nature and biodiversity is crucial, with recent reports highlighting its impact surpassing even major global economic crises.

Understanding the ‘S’ in ESG

In this short video, Doreen Brennan, Director of Climate Change & Sustainability Services, and Madeline Parkinson, Manager of Climate Change & Sustainability Services, discuss the critical ‘Social’ component of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. They explore the profound impact of social responsibility on businesses and the economy, highlighting the importance of a socially conscious approach in today’s corporate world.

Discover how companies are integrating social considerations into their business models and the implications of emerging regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the EU AI Act. Brennan and Parkinson provide expert analysis on how these regulations are shaping the landscape of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the ethical deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Nature, the hot topic in ESG

Watch this short video to hear Doreen Brennan, Director of Climate Change & Sustainability Services, and Sheila Stanley, Manager of Climate Change & Sustainability Services, discuss the lesser known topic of nature in ESG.

In this video, nature is discussed in the context of Financial Services asking questions such as how is nature impacted by Financial Services, what reporting requirements need to be considered and are there future reporting obligations that Financial Institutions should be aware of?