Environmental, social and governance (ESG) also dominates the list of corporate affairs functional priorities.
ESG performance tops the list of corporate affairs risk priorities globally for 46% of organisations, according to a new survey report launched by Saïd Business School and GlobeScan, an insights and strategy consultancy.
Corporate affairs experts point to climate change as the most-pressing ESG issue for global businesses over the next two years followed by net zero / carbon emissions and inequality in society.
Pandemic management (32%) is the second-highest Corporate Affairs risk priority in a shift that emphasises more human concerns. Less urgency is placed on the broader, longer-term issues of macro-economic risks (20%) and regulation (17%).
Employees are the most important stakeholders, with shareholders and governments rounding out the top three, reflecting the impact of Covid-19. Employees are also the number-one stakeholder group globally and across almost all sectors.
Following the inaugural Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs Survey in 2020, this year’s survey report provides an overview of opinions, trends and challenges through the lens of Corporate Affairs practitioners. The report captured the views and insights of 228 senior professionals who were surveyed in February and March of 2021 on issues and themes of relevance to the Corporate Affairs function.
Against the combined backdrop of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and geopolitical pressure, the survey looked at where the function has been spending time over the last 12 months and which areas have grown in prominence. The appetite for corporate activism is strong in all sectors globally, with over 75% of organisations having either 'some appetite' or a 'strong appetite' for corporate activism, except in the financial services sector where the number is still material but slightly lower (67%). Regionally the picture is similar, with over 75% of organisations in all regions having 'some appetite' or a 'strong appetite,' except for in Asia-Pacific where this number is considerably lower at 60%.