B4IG Newsletter #7
In this issue:
Operational collaborations between businesses
B4IG workshop in preparation for upcoming Board Meeting
The new OECD Secretary General
and more!
Welcome back to the B4IG newsletter! Before getting into updates from the various parts of the B4IG, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a key aspect of how Inclusive Growth is maturing in today’s business environment.
While each individual company is obviously concerned with its own performance, whether in terms of profits, social equality, environmental impact, etc., it’s also true that a business is part of its industry and its supply chain. As such, a company’s efforts at moving toward more inclusive business models must necessarily take into account both its inner workings and its relationships with partners and suppliers.
Thus it is no surprise that the rise in interest in Inclusive Growth is also going hand-in-hand with a rise in operational collaborations between businesses, putting in place concrete projects that aim to have lasting impacts for both the companies involved and their related industries.
This is a key dimension of the B4IG coalition. Whether it’s AXA and L’Oréal teaming up within the B4IG Incubator to enhance smallholder farmers’ resilience to risk, or members of the Human Rights workstream working on how to replicate the Vinci-ILO pilot against forced labor risks in Qatar, or a group of companies sharing restructuring experiences in order to develop a set of recommendations for responsible transformation, or the current work to create an ecosystem around living wage policies, the B4IG has resolutely opted for concrete and operational collaboration.
Now, let’s move on to updates and reminders on upcoming events occurring throughout the B4IG!
The Actions
Inclusive Growth Financing Forum (IGFF)
Over the past months, IGFF has interviewed all members of the coalition to map their needs and expectations in terms of financing inclusive businesses and initiatives. The “Inclusive Growth Aggregator” will spring from the creation of concrete financing partnerships and pilots between corporates and investors; the first step of the operational roadmap is to identify the priority areas and programs that should be funded.
The Financing Forum Workshop on June 3rd will be the first opportunity for corporates and investors to meet and brainstorm on their financing strategies and expectations, and begin exploring opportunities for partnerships on concrete financing pilots. You can download the full program here; to get involved, reach out to stephanie.failloux@b4ig.org.
The Incubator
The B4IG Incubator Collective Training sessions have been going on for two months now and over 280 participants have had the chance to learn from insightful speakers in an informative and engaged way. These sessions have included moments to collectively learn about intrapreneurship, business models, partnerships and marketing applied to inclusive projects; you can find the upcoming sessions and links to join below in the Save the Date(s) section.
Working Groups
WG3 Inclusive Sourcing: On April 27 the B4IG Incubator (Innovation Studio) launched the 6-month pilot program to test the toolkit developed by the Inclusive Sourcing WG and define a methodology applicable across industries. For each company that joined the workstream, this is a unique opportunity to conduct an in-house diagnosis of their inclusive sourcing journey, enhance it by learning from others, and contribute to the toolkit. Seven companies have already been onboarded: L'Oréal, Danone, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Pret, Veolia, Mars and BNP Paribas.
WG6 Youth, a new workstream within the coalition: The latest information session took place on May 17, presenting challenges regarding youth entering the labour market and identifying priority topics. The OECD presented key-findings from their research and Action Plan, and the brainstorming session focused on skills, sub-skills and integration measures such as mentorship, internships, and apprenticeships. Companies which were not able to attend the information session can reach out to Marie Basso, marie.basso@b4ig.org, for more information on this new working group.
B4IG Members
Several B4IG members decided to join the COVAX facility, an initiative co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO, alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. On April 26th, representatives of UNICEF presented the initiative to B4IG sherpas, with the goal of delivering 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021. Such an effort requires the cooperation of multiple actors, including corporations, to make sure everyone - and especially those who are highly vulnerable - is safe. Please visit UNICEF’s global website for more information and news on their response to the pandemic.
From the OECD
Mr. Mathias Cormann will become OECD Secretary General from June 1st. He will be the first OECD Secretary General to emerge from the Asia Pacific region. Mathias Cormann was Australia’s longest-serving Finance Minister and Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate. Born in Belgium, he migrated to Australia in 1996, bringing a distinctive perspective to the Secretary-General role having spent half of his life in Europe and half in the Asia-Pacific. His experience gives him rare insights into the cultures, economic strengths and political dynamics of both regions. Mathias is a strong advocate for the positive power of open markets and free trade and the importance of rules based global economic governance. He has represented Australia in the OECD, G20, APEC, ASEAN and the World Economic Forum.
On May 17, B4IG Sherpas were invited to join an interactive session organised by the OECD whereby the Global Deal—a multi-stakeholder partnership that promotes social dialogue as a means to achieve decent work and inclusive growth—presented their initiative. The aim of the session was to discuss synergies and potential collaboration across the initiatives, as well as explore interest from B4IG companies to join the Global Deal.
The OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct will be held on June 15-17. Discussions will explore what business conduct we need today in order to solve the challenges of tomorrow and whether we have the right standards and tools to make RBC the new normal in an interconnected world. Importantly, the Forum will look at how policy makers, business leaders, activists and citizens can integrate responsible business thinking into policies, action and ownership to bring remedy to people, meet the Sustainable Development Goals and tackle climate change. The agenda can be found here and the registration link here.
Around the Globe
The debate around whether or not ESG can boost portfolio performance continues. While some studies have concluded that ESG boosted returns, for example a NYU paper examining the relationship between ESG and financial performance in more than 1,000 research papers from 2015 to 2020, a recent analysis by Scientific Beta “Honey, I Shrunk the ESG Alpha”: Risk-Adjusting ESG Portfolio Returns” suggests that these results are due to standards factors such as quality.
McKinsey published a new report on inclusive growth that points to a mutually reinforcing mechanism between inclusion and growth. The full report, available here, also includes principles and actions that can guide leaders as they pursue inclusive growth.
Save the Date(s)
May 27: Working Group 5 (Just Transition) meeting, discussing the memo note on JT and the roadmap, 4:30-5:30 pm CET.
June 3: B4IG Workshop in preparation for the upcoming Board Meeting being held on June 21st, 3:00-5:00 pm CET. There will be individual sessions for Working Group 2 (Ethnic Diversity), WG 2 (Responsible Transformation), WG 4 (Impact Measurement), WG 3 (Living Wage), WG 5 (Just Transition), and the IGFF. Please register here to receive the calendar invitation.
Week of June 7: Working Group 1 (Human Rights) meeting on fair recruitment of migrant workers (exact date TBC).
Upcoming Collective Training Sessions with the B4IG Incubator; reach out to mburkert.ext@hystra.com with any questions you may have or connect directly by clicking on the session titles below:
Thanks for reading!
B4IG team