ESG advisory
Corporations, private equity and investors are recognising that it is no longer only about how a company’s operations impact the environment, its people, and the communities in which it operates, but it's also increasingly about how environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can materially impact a company’s performance and ultimately, its value.
With the 2020 global health crisis, global population growth, climate change, energy transition, evolving and globally-organised social and community actions on issues such as diversity and race, and ultimately adaption to the next normal, the demand for greater transparency and action around ESG has never been greater.
ESG has rapidly evolved from a perceived nice-to-have proposition to a necessary focus area for most enterprises. The 2020 global health crisis has brought attention to corporate ESG performance and values, with larger global corporations leading on ethical and positive social issues. As companies and funds adapt to the next normal, those with a stronger ESG position are outperforming those without a clear strategy.
SLR has been highly active in the ESG space for over 15 years and offers a package of ESG advisory services developed and evolved through real, 'boots on the ground' experience, focused on what’s next for ESG. We drive value, meaningful impact and critically, quantifiable returns, while maintaining corporate governance, risk management and compliance. SLR’s approach focuses on value-driven risk management actions with quantifiable outcomes at mission-critical assets to fully leverage your ESG position.
No matter where you are on the ESG maturity curve, SLR’s pragmatic business-focused approach is aimed at quickly identifying value and impact, and developing programmes that both exceed stakeholder expectations and drive quantifiable returns.
Our comprehensive ESG toolkit can be deployed to assist you at the corporate, fund and/or portfolio company/business unit level and at all stages of the investment cycle, each approach uniquely tailored to individual commercial needs and value actions.
How can we help?
SLR’s approach is focused on what’s next for ESG. The market is evolving from measurement and disclosure to driving quantifiable value and meaningful impact. Our approach is to identify where the ESG opportunities and potential exist and design a strategy around the ESG value proposition first, rather than the traditional approach of a lengthy benchmarking and measurement exercise at the start. This includes recognising and capturing the ESG value already unlocked within your organisation.
The result is a strategy aligned with your corporate values and investment goals, that will drive the results important to your business.
SLR’s ESG advisory tools cover:
- Strategy and governance
- Policy and framework
- Management tools
- Benchmarking and measurement
- Actions and implementation
- Reporting and disclosure
With a strategy aligned to your business, we can unlock ESG value related to:
- Access to/cost of capital
- Brand and reputation enhancement
- Growth opportunities, including new products, services, or markets
- Margin enhancement, for example by cost reduction through improved operational efficiency
- Improved safety performance and claims reduction
- Reduction in ESG liabilities and mitigation of risks
- Enterprise vulnerability and resilience
- Improved supply chain resilience to risks such as climate change and acute economic stresses
- A future-focused approach to reducing impact on ecosystem
- Other benefits, such as diversity, employee retention, social licence to operate (e.g. community relations, NGOs or union/workforce/supplier actions)
- Driving a higher valuation multiple at exit
Our team includes
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Cory Skuldt
U.S. Head of ESG Strategic Advisory
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Piya Baptista
ESG Strategic Advisory Director
Piya Baptista has 20 years of experience with business, development finance institutions, and non-profits. Prior to joining Corporate Citizenship, I worked with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to advance sustainability reporting in North America. Also, she worked in advisory services with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. At IFC, she supported clients with “Inclusive Business Solutions,” which integrate low-income populations into value chains as suppliers, employees, distributors, retailers, and customers using commercially viable methods to drive economic and social impact.
Piya works with companies on sustainability strategy, reporting, and social impact. She supports companies at all stages in the journey—from early to mature—to design or enhance strategy, embed it within the business, and communicate impact.
Piya experience includes health care, food and agriculture, technology, financial services, and general manufacturing.
Client and Project Experience:
Piya has consulting experience with Unilever Limited, The Coca-Cola Company, Cargill, the Dae Beers Group, SAB Miller (AB InBev), Rio Tinto, and several leading companies in emerging markets. Other clients and partners include the World Economic Forum, the Mastercard Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USAID, and the United Nations. -
Joanie Baczewski
ESG Strategic Advisory Director
Joanie Baczewski works with companies across various industries to improve many aspects of their sustainability programmes with a focus on strategy and voluntary sustainability reporting. She helps companies address performance and reporting gaps in accordance with GRI, CDP, GRESB, and DJSI. In addition, Joanie helps companies measure and manage sustainability data including emissions, water, waste, employees, health and safety, community investment, and other non-financial information.
Prior to joining SLR, Joanie worked in sustainability consulting for PwC, ERM, and Greenpoint Innovations.
Client and Project Experience:
In-depth sector experience includes the energy, utility, mining, and hospitality sectors. -
Charlie Hodkinson-Ashford
ESG Strategic Advisory Director
Charlie Hodkinson-Ashford works across a wide range of ESG advisory in particularly with ESG ratings and data, socio-economic impact measurement, climate risk and human rights. Charlie joined in 2012, and prior to this he was at CDP, working as part of the Carbon Action team. He has a BA in Economics from Cambridge University, where he specialised in development and environmental economics.
Client & Project experience:
He has worked on a wide variety of projects, with clients across the world. They include Mars, Royal Mail, Abbott Laboratories, Standard Chartered, Illovo Sugar Africa, Falabella and Antofagasta.
