During the political turmoil of the 1800s, the Rev. Suitbert Mollinger saw an opportunity and used his connections and resources to make a difference. He collected Catholic relics throughout Europe and gave them a safe home in Pittsburgh.
St. Anthony Chapel in Pittsburgh, the subject of this month’s Uniquely Pittsburgh, houses the most relics in one place outside of the Vatican.
This kind of long-term impact is something most companies only dream of.
Two meanings for sustainability
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, mergers and acquisitions activity in 2015 will be on the rise. But when businesses are considering long-term growth prospects so they can be around decades or centuries later, like Mollinger’s dream, they also must factor in a different kind of sustainability.
Environmental, social and governance factors have become mainstream ideas that must be accounted for in business.
Disclosing risks
In its “Sustainability Goes Mainstream: Insights Into Investor Views,” PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed investors about their thoughts on environmental, social and governance factors. Here are some highlights from the report:
- Sustainability is most relevant for large institutions, but companies will be giving more consideration to it in future investment decisions. Eighty-two percent of respondents have considered climate change and/or resource scarcity in the past 12 months, but 87 percent expect to consider it in the next three years. The same goes for social responsibility and/or good citizenship, which respondents expect to go from 79 percent to 84 percent.
- The primary driver to consider sustainability issues when making long-term investors is to mitigate risk — according to nearly three-quarters of respondents.
- There’s dissatisfaction with the lack of common standards for sustainability information, which is why some investors don’t use this type of information when making investment decisions. They want better information from companies.
- Sixty-one percent of U.S. investors were highly dissatisfied with the current level of disclosure. More than 90 percent wanted periodic assessments on the risk for:
- Regulatory risk, such as the risk of stranded assets due to carbon regulations.
- Labor rights, such as the use of child labor or sweat shops.
- Human health, such as a demand for fewer toxic chemicals and reduced cost of pharmaceuticals.
- This was followed closely by concerns about resource scarcity risk like the risk of disruptions from lower greenhouse gas emitting technologies or impacts of water scarcity on production costs.
People, whether they are customers or investors, care what companies are doing. Yes, things like cost and quality matter, but they also want to feel good about a purchase, which supports your company.
This kind of information will only become more important in the future, so it’s something you have to think about if you want to be around for the long haul.
