ESG – A CLARION CALL FOR BUSINESS

The backlash against ESG in some investor circles should act as a clarion call for business to embrace environmental responsibility, social justice, and sound governance into our day-to-day operations.

Googling “ESG” in March 2023 brings up opinion pieces about the “false promises” or “meaningless buzzwords” associated with some forms of environmental, social, and governance-based investment. Visible responsibility through reporting, critics suggest, often gets ahead of actual, impactful actions.

At Torus, we see ESG differently. Admittedly, reporting raises challenges and perceptions differ across sectors about what the E, S and G mean. But the fundamental imperative to show how we are supporting sustainable futures for people, communities and business resonates with our own core purpose – and with the essence of good business.

Torus is a social purpose organisation, driven by a mission of ‘growing stronger communities. We own 40,000 homes in Liverpool and beyond, aim to build 1,000 new homes every year and – through our charitable foundation – invest commercial profits into initiatives that improve life chances.

We published our first ESG Report in September 2022. Whilst our ESG priorities may not fully chime with those in other sectors, hopefully these three key learnings are universal:

1. Consistency: we adopted the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) to ensure we are reporting in a transparent and comparable way. The SRS was in its second year, so we began with a set of recognised measures.

2. Data: although we have a richness of data, we needed information for each indicator to be meaningful and robust. Reporting needed to capture outcomes, not just outputs. In some areas, new insight mechanisms were needed.

3. Benefits: reporting has not only helped us highlight to partners, customers, and staff how we truly deliver against allimportant ESG issues; it has also identified areas for improvement, particularly against environmental measures.

At its heart, ESG puts the spotlight on the long-term impacts of what we do, as well as on immediate and near-term profitability. Done well, it reveals what we truly value.

Find our ESG Report here: www.torus.co.uk