The Arison Center for ESG is the first center at an Israeli university dedicated to researching, teaching, and implementing interdisciplinary content bridging business, society, and sustainability. The center sees great importance in spearheading the addressing of these issues and in mobilizing leadership and employees in the business sector to bring about effective and valuable initiatives benefiting the economy, society, and the environment.
The center’s Industry Fellows Forum, led by Yair Avidan, the former Supervisor of Banks and a senior banking executive, will concentrate on navigating the implementation of ESG principles in the business world and addressing the challenges and opportunities involved, given the field's developmental stage.
The Forum will hold periodic meetings with key figures responsible for implementing ESG practices in the realms and sectors they operate. This group will feature a diverse representation of various industries, including executives entrusted with overseeing ESG policies and metrics within their organizations, researchers, and consultants.
These meetings will focus on challenges and opportunities in the interfaces between companies and Israeli society, business operations, and ESG.
During the inaugural meeting in March 2024, we presented the Arison Center’s vision and activities. We delved into the corporate value derived from implementing ESG, addressing the associated challenges, opportunities, and barriers.
Below is a summary of the key points raised by participants in the forum:
- The connection, interfaces, and interrelations between companies and society are becoming increasingly apparent.
- Leveraging the relationship between the Arison Center and the Fellows Forum is important for advancing the shared objective of promoting and implementing ESG principles within business culture and throughout Israeli society across diverse sectors.
- It is vital to focus on practical steps — moving from theoretical and methodological statements to concrete actions.
- We must explore and address the challenges of applying ESG principles in Israel while recognizing that they are an integral part of these efforts within the global context.
- Companies and sectors should devise policies that are as proportionate and compatible with their respective characteristics as possible.
- The center should focus on applied, relevant research with the potential to impact industry and on formulating policy papers for the relevant fields.
- The center should play a leading role in developing broad and specialized teaching and training initiatives.
- It is important for the center to be a hub of expertise and knowledge for the industry.
- It is important to learn from practices in advanced countries and adapt these solutions and their implementation to our own parameters.
- Emphasis and attention must be given to aspects related to the company’s supply chain.
- The social dimension (S) should be specifically addressed in the supply chain.
- To further the center’s specialization and focus, partnerships should be fostered with government entities that serve as leaders in policy formulation and implementation.
- The center has a role as a connector and bridge between the realms of legislation, regulation, and policy and the corporate world, which must act effectively and implement the measures.
- Corporations, especially those with global reach, should begin implementing and executing plans that go beyond the minimum ESG requirements, even before the passing of Israeli legislation and/or regulation.
- Within this framework, it is important to implement ESG principles at the core of business operations, starting from the company vision and through strategy development, business policies, work plans, risk management, and monitoring and control.
- Connecting ESG principles as closely as possible to profitability is paramount.
- Strategies need to be devised and implemented to incentivize firms to adopt and integrate ESG principles (carrots and sticks).
- There should be an emphasis on educating the market about the value of implementing ESG practices and the potential costs of not doing so.
- Efforts should be made to implement and address ESG considerations across the broader economic landscape rather than in isolated sectors. This approach should be proportional and tailored according to size, international exposure, and relevant aspects of the ESG framework.
- Standardization in general is crucial, and in particular the establishment of rankings for corporations based on their implementation and application of ESG practices.
- It is essential to employ appropriate tools to prevent greenwashing.
- It is important to evaluate ESG risks methodically and with a business mindset to incorporate them into the valuation and pricing of companies.
- Enhancing knowledge of the subject is crucial for a company’s controlling owners, board members, management, and employees.
- Educating, empowering, and expanding public awareness of the issue is crucial, while also leveraging and harnessing the media to amplify its importance.
- Corporations that adopt and implement these principles will distinguish themselves and emerge as leaders in business.
- Legislation and regulation play a crucial role in driving adoption and implementation.
- It is important to address and respond to any pockets of opposition to the issue, whatever their nature.
- The adoption and implementation of ESG should become ingrained in the organizational DNA — “beyond compliance.”
- Spearheading the issue and its adoption and implementation constitutes a leadership agenda, necessitating both individual and collective leadership, and is an integral component of ethical leadership.
- It is vital to emphasize that alongside the benefits that may arise from implementing ESG principles, there will certainly be consequences for those who choose not to.
- The cost of inaction may be significantly higher than the cost of taking action.