We are pleased to launch our new series People At The Centre which will share insights on how businesses are tackling the ESG agenda and putting people at the forefront of future thinking. We start by asking what are your HR priorities now? In the autumn we will invite your participation in a series of discussion forums looking at the key ESG developments of 2020 and share the results of our ESG surveys.

How businesses engage on these issues will shape their long term future, in particular as the “unlocking” of economies around the world brings fresh challenges. Reputation will be key, as will corporate “purpose”, as the call grows for corporates to play their part in solving the problems of people and planet, and corporations increasingly adopt a long term stakeholder approach to their business models. Incorporating non-financial considerations into business decision-making has also become the mainstay of investors as they adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their investment frameworks, along with positive impacts on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).