Environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are an increasing driver of reputation in retail. According to Google search data, interest in “ethical brands” and “ethical online shopping” grew by 300% and 600% respectively in 2020 alone.
Meanwhile the sector faces increasing public scrutiny and regulation on a range of topics, from fast fashion and potential human rights abuses in the supply chain to climate-related financial disclosures and use of non-recycled plastic.
These pressures were reflected in our Reputation Risk Readiness survey, with environmental, social and governance issues emerging as three of the top five reputational risks. However, the results a suggest that progress in managing ESG and reputation risks may be stalling or even going backwards compared to our last survey two years ago.
Key findings: firms are less confident about ESG risk management
- Only 17% had the highest level of governance process for managing reputation and ESG risks (processes linked to board KPIs), compared to 23% in 2021.
- Perceptions of overall resilience to reputation issues, such as ESG, has also fallen. In 2021, 20% rated this as very good, but only 16% said the…
