Navigating the CSR ESG areas of focus, while started in the investment landscape today world, now serve as areas of focus for brands to align their CSR initiatives Leveraging ESG Another popular way brands have chosen to embark on CSR initiatives is to anchor their efforts to a well-known Environmental, Social, or Governance, (ESG) area of focus. Evironmental Social ESG started in the investing world decades ago when investors • Climate Change • Gender and wanted to avoid certain stocks because they went against their • Energy Diversity core values. (e.g. religious affiliations, tobacco etc.) Today, ESG Efficiency • Human Rights has become a common focus area from which brands can • Water Scarcity • Labor Standards align CSR initiatives, far outside the parameters of investing • Pollution and etc. strategies. Waste etc. “The practice of ESG investing began in the 1960s as socially responsible investing, with investors excluding stocks or entire industries from their portfolios based on business activities such as tobacco production or involvement in the South African (07) apartheid regime.” ―MSCI Governance • Bribery and Corruption • Politcial Contributions • Executive Compensation etc. 14 15