Will there be a just transition?

How far does the climate crisis affect workers and businesses and what needs to be done about it?

Today in Frankly Speaking, Richard Howitt welcomes Jason Judd, executive director of Cornell's Global Labor Institute.

They recently produced a set of 25 social indicators which it believes are measurable and impactful, and which can give certainty to social issues and corporate sustainability reporting. The Institute has also produced research on the impact of extreme weather events on the apparel or fashion industry to understand the real scale of change which is confronting us.

You’ll hear more about:

• What are the impacts of extreme heat or flooding on workers in the apparel sector
• What does it mean in practice and what are the needed investments in climate adaption
• The path for due diligence in the US and in the rest of the world
• How to measure supply chain due diligence and labour metrics
• What would happen for sustainability if Kamala Harris wins?

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Do our ideas about what makes companies competitive actually hinder the shift toward sustainability?

What role do share or stock buybacks have in this?

And has the move towards sustainable finance actually succeeded in providing incentives for companies to change?

As former ECB President Mario Draghi made his own proposals for returning Europe to competitiveness and President von der Leyen reveals her new proposed team, we ask if there is enough money for sustainability and competitiveness. If yes, where is it?

To discuss these related issues, Frankly Speaking welcomes Myriam Vander Stichele, senior researcher at SOMO, the center for research on multinational corporations.

You’ll hear more about:

• Competitiveness for long term resilience of the company is still the strongest argument

• What are share buybacks, what is happening and what are the implications for business

• How reality is catching up and how it's time to go back to an evidence-based debate to end polarisation

• Myriam shares how Europe must be a leader and champion the role of cooperation rather than simple economic competitiveness

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Welcome to the third season of Frankly Speaking!

We’re kicking it off strong with a crucial topic: trust and what can drive improving it in business?

To discuss this, Richard Howitt welcomes Alison Taylor, author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World. Alison is a clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business, Executive Director of the organization Ethical Systems, and has been involved with some major consulting organizations, including Control Risks, Preventable Surprises and Business for Social Responsibility.

In this episode, you’ll hear more about:

• Why Alison advocates for companies to say less and do more - and whether there's a danger in that
• The challenge of balancing meaningful action with broader accountability
• The crucial distinction between trust and reputation management
• Why it's high time companies start treating people like human beings

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Today, Frankly Speaking welcomes Professor Michael H. Posner, director of the Centre for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business. He also served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of State.

Throughout his career, Mike has played a key role in establishing some of the major global initiatives on responsible business, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the Fair Labor Association, and the Global Network Initiative, and he continues to be one of the leading voices on business and human rights in the United States.

You’ll hear more about:

• How too much about business and human rights is still process, not outcome or performance.
• Why companies must not abrogate responsibility
• A strong call for standards on due diligence for genuine accountability for businesses on their conduct
• The difficult political situation in the United States at the moment and how to respond to the ESG backlash

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This week, Richard Howitt welcomes Robert McCorquodale, professor of international law and human rights and current chair of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, to discuss their report presented last month to the 56th Human Rights Council on investor responsibility to respect human rights. You can read a summary of the report here.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• ESG is not the same as human rights: there must be a systematic integration or the consideration of human rights in relation to ESG
• How investors should and can prevent 'rightswashing'
• A call for the EU to look again in two years at including investment in the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
• While soft law holds significant importance, it is the amendment of hard law that ultimately brings about substantial and concrete change

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Germany's NewClimate Institute has produced the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, evaluating the transparency and integrity of climate pledges of 51 major companies across different sectors and geographies.

Richard Howitt welcomes Frederic Hans and Thomas Day, co-authors of the report to discuss their findings and key recommendations to companies in their journey to net-zero.

In this episode, you’ll find more about:

• Good business practices and what makes a business leader in climate action efforts

• Checklist of things to avoid if companies want to try and do this better

• If the ESRS and ISSB Standards are improving things and if companies can feel confident in following them?

• The need for science-based targets and what SBTi should do next

• What is green hushing and to what extent it can be dangerous

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In this week’s episode, Richard Howitt asks: can we believe the numbers on environment, social and governance (ESG)?

To address this, we welcome Richard Hardyment, author of Measuring Good Business: Making Sense of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Data. In it, he states that there is little or no evidence that ESG has and has had any positive outcomes for people and the planet in the real world. And yet he calls himself emphatically pro-sustainability.

After directing research at the World Benchmarking Alliance, he is now Head of Business Engagement at the Institute of Business Ethics.

In this episode, you’ll hear more about:

• The secret about sustainability reporting numbers
• The different ways in measuring social and environmental disclosures
• What makes a good proxy?
• How to pick up context in sustainability reporting?
• Can we measure the goodwill of the business?

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We are a few days away from the European elections, and there is a frenzied atmosphere in Brussels for what the results might mean for the future of sustainability in the EU, Europe's Green Deal and for its implications for business.

In this week’s episode, Richard Howitt welcomes Antonia Zimmermann, trade reporter for Politico Europe, which reports on European politics and policy, and Anna Brunetti, experienced financial journalist and economy editor at Euractiv.

This conversation is going to guide you through what's happening and what might happen in the future. Together they discuss:

• What caused the backlash against the Green Deal and the green agenda in Europe?
• If Europe needs to play catch-up when it comes to financing the green transition
• What is the tone of this EU Elections campaign?
• Their predictions on the outcome of the 2024 EU elections
• Despite the risks, the challenges, the fears and the dangers, will climate stay on the agenda in the upcoming mandate?

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***Participate in our anonymous survey: Help us understand what you enjoy in the show, what you want us to do better, and who you want to listen to next!

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