Expansion of data-driven offering provides unique support for companies to assess and strengthen ESG efforts against peers and stakeholder and policy expectations
DUBAI, (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – The Strategic Communications division of FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) has today strengthened its Environment Social Governance (ESG) and Sustainability practice with the official launch of the ESG Compass, a distinctive diagnostic tool that maps a company’s sustainability performance to mitigate reputational and business risk and identify new growth opportunities. This customized platform is designed to support highly regulated companies across sector and geography as they seek to drive engagement with key stakeholders, enhance their ESG-focused communications strategy and position the company for success.
FTI’s proprietary diagnostic tool, the ESG Compass, provides a uniquely tailored approach for a company’s regional and sector footprint. The platform consolidates leadership performance data for each of the main ESG criteria relative to peers and best practices, providing insights and recommendations in relation to stakeholder expectations and public policy. The approach draws upon hundreds of data points to provide a holistic, research-driven view that informs a company on its current programs, policies, and opportunities for growth. The quantitative data is supplemented by robust qualitative insights from FTI Consulting experts in relation to specific policy, stakeholder expectations, and corporate reputation to guide a company’s ESG strategy.
Martin Porter, a senior advisor and ESG and Sustainability specialist based in FTI Consulting’s EU office in Brussels, said: “The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted a shift in the way that ESG is understood and put into practice by companies. If environment, social and governance concerns were in the past often interpreted as three separate issues, they are now seen as clearly inter-connected. Engagement and communications around these issues is an essential element of successful corporate strategy, both for short-term resilience and longer-term sustainability. Our research shows any change must be rooted in performance data. The combination of insights from the ESG Compass and FTI’s team of experts provides a tailored overview, matching commitments against expectations and providing a roadmap for businesses as they execute on their ESG-focused communication strategy.”
Companies and investors are increasingly expected to play active roles that ensure transformative long-term sustainability goals are met. This means looking beyond regulatory compliance to anticipate dynamic policy and stakeholder expectations while delivering value. As a result, the ESG agenda of investors has become important for company boards and their approach to sustainability as a resilience imperative.
Commenting on the launch of the ESG Compass in Europe, Mark McCall, Global Head of FTI Consulting’s Strategic Communications segment, said: “Our approach brings together our ESG experience in investor relations and financial communications with the depth of our regulatory and policy knowledge in key markets across the globe. The ESG Compass, in combination with our regional policy and capital markets expertise across Europe, offers clients a proven, distinct, and highly tailored approach to bolstering their ESG program, safeguarding performance and reputation. Combining this tool with our media, strategic positioning and corporate reputation capabilities provides clients a data-driven approach to enhancing their ESG strategy. This innovative approach helps clients address an agenda which is now central to all businesses. It can ensure risks are properly mitigated and opportunities are seized. Boards want short-term resilience as well as longer-term sustainability and we aim to help them to deliver both.”
Shane Dolan, Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s UAE office, said: “It is estimated that emerging markets need an annual investment of $2.5 trillion in order to meet the SDG targets by 2030, with a large portion of this investment focused on the Middle East. According to data shared by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, the region is home to some critical sustainable development opportunities, with an estimated annual financing gap of more than $100 billion. Furthermore, there is no doubt that we live in a dynamic, evolving and unpredictable world – and COVID-19 has made it all the more real – and so today’s investors are being confronted with tougher investment decisions and more complex risk profiles, both of which they need to analyse when choosing which assets to invest in. When making these decisions, ESG investment considerations are increasingly taking centre stage.”
FTI’s ESG and Sustainability practice will draw upon the firm’s significant strategic communications expertise in business, investment, policy and regulation to help clients navigate an agenda which is becoming increasingly important. FTI Consulting’s 2020 Resilience Barometer™ C-suite survey has reaffirmed the growing relevance of ESG and sustainability issues for companies. Responses from a survey of 250 global institutional investors, undertaken as the COVID-19 crisis started to emerge, showed that 28% believe listed companies are under ‘extreme pressure’ to improve their ESG credentials, and 88% agree that ‘there should be more reporting on the actual impact of their activities’.
For more information on FTI Consulting’s ESG and Sustainability practice, please go to https://www.fticonsulting.com/insights/featured-perspectives/esg-sustainability.
About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 5,500 employees located in 27 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $2.35 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2019. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting), Facebook and LinkedIn.
© Press Release 2020
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