[ad_1]
Northampton, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 23, 2023 / Antea Group:
Global climate change is a growing force in all industries to adopt urgent environmental, social and governance initiatives. This year, several new ESG-focused environmental and financial reporting regulations will be implemented in major markets around the world.
As an innovation leader, the tech industry is poised to play a more prominent role in ESG spaces. Let’s take a look at what’s happening now and what’s next for ESG in the tech industry.
ESG: A quick overview
ESG is a framework that assesses the health and sustainability of an organization based on environmental, social and governance factors.
AreaImpacts on the natural world such as carbon footprint, sustainability initiatives and compliance with applicable environmental regulations.
SocialImpact on people, such as diversity and inclusion programs, corporate/community relations, compliance with labor laws, and human resource practices.
ManagementHow a firm is run, such as board composition, executive compensation and index protection.
ESG and the technology industry
The tech industry is influencing ESG spaces. Tech giant Apple and Salesforce are among those calling for stricter rules around ESG reporting.
While on the surface it may seem counterintuitive for an industry to require more regulation, the tech sector has the benefit of keeping ESG moving forward in terms of attractiveness to investors and consumers.
The future of investment is ESG
ESG-rated investment funds have performed well despite recent market concerns, and firms that have worked hard to achieve an ESG rating are poised to compete in the new ESG-focused capital market.
This competition will start soon. The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule is scheduled to come online in 2023 and includes disclosure of Scope 3 emissions, which are emissions from upstream and downstream activities in the value chain.
What does this mean for the technology industry? To remain competitive, technology companies that provide digital solutions must have strong ESG standards so that they do not affect the Scope 3 emissions of companies that use their software or services.
Improve infrastructure and improve efficiency in information
Examining the environmental and social impact of the technology sector has been in the news lately.
Due to the ever-increasing demand for data center facilities and the continued expansion of carbon footprints, technology industry leaders are creating solutions to efficiently address the proliferation of data.
These initiatives include:
-
The European Climate Neutral Data Center Agreement pledges to make data centers climate-neutral by 2030.
-
The Open Compute Project is working to redesign hardware technology to increase computing efficiency.
-
The 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, the United Nations and Sustainable Energy for All project, signed by Google, Microsoft and Iron Mountain.
-
Impact, a Cornerstone and University of Bristol project that measures and reports the carbon footprint of digital services.
Governments are also investing in improved infrastructure, and the US Department of Energy has announced $42 million to help develop more energy-efficient cooling systems.
Diversity in the tech industry
While the environmental component of ESG typically receives too much attention, social factors are just as important to the well-being of global citizens.
While the tech sector has made strides in recent years to address diversity gaps, recent layoffs at major tech companies have threatened to wipe out gains.
According to a Reuters report, Job losses between September and December 2022 have had the greatest impact on women and Latinos, with tech workers from these minority groups accounting for 46.64% and 11.49% of tech cuts, respectively.
Even before the layoffs, a study by S&P Global found that one in three women in tech experience sexual harassment in the workplace, pointing to the need to improve workplace culture in the tech sector.
Going forward, technology leaders must evaluate their diversity policies and hiring practices against their ESG targets.
How technology innovation can drive ESG for all.
One of the biggest opportunities for the tech industry right now is to create the next generation of technology that can improve systems to help curb climate change and deal with its consequences.
Alongside improved green energy storage and technology used to fight forest fires with AI and machine learning-powered drones, there are opportunities for technology to help other industries achieve their ESG goals.
Analyzing, reporting and storing ESG-related data poses a problem for many industries – one that technology can solve. A recent McKinsey report on the impact of ESG in banking cited an opportunity for technology to make a big difference. “Banks must adapt their IT systems to systematically collect, aggregate and report on a wide range of ESG data.”
As Microsoft President Brad Smith recently announced, “Cloud-based digital services, better use of data, and rapid advances in AI are creating new opportunities for us to help every organization make more progress in addressing the world’s climate and energy needs.”
Connect with our team of experts today to learn more about ESG’s impact on the tech industry and how your business can prepare.
See more multimedia and more ESG stories from Antea Group at 3blmedia.com.
Contact Address:
Spokesperson: Antia Group
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/antea-group
Email: info@3blmedia.com
Source: Antea group
Check out the source version at accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/745470/ESG-in-the-tech-Industry-Whats-Coming-Next
[ad_2]
Source link
