Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG Investing (Global)

Societal expectations of business have evolved dramatically over the past several decades. It was not too long ago that companies were only expected to be profitable and create returns for shareholders. Companies were responsible for obeying the law, but society did not otherwise expect them to adhere to a code of ethics or consider how their actions would affect others.

Around the middle of the 20th century, this attitude began to change, as the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) took hold. CSR calls for companies to consider the impact of their actions on society and holds companies at least morally (if not legally) responsible for those actions. CSR has expanded to include a wide range of issues, including product safety, sustainability, diversity, human rights, and corporate governance.

More recently, the focus on CSR has sharpened into environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations. ESG specifically refers to the three categories of factors on which an investor can evaluate a company for a potential investment. Other terms that broadly refer to same concepts include sustainability, corporate responsibility (CR), and corporate citizenship.

By the end of this e-learning course, employees/learners will be able to:

• Recall the steps leading up to the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Identify the purpose of ESG investing
• List how a company can benefit from its CSR initiatives
• List some example(s) of common CSR and ESG initiatives