Geoffrey Mazullo, Adjunct Professor, School of American Law (SAL) – Poland, delivered a presentation entitled, “ESG Reporting by Listed Companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC)” at the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) Corporate Governance Workshop on January 21, 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The workshop was organized by the FEAS Secretariat in coordination with the Corporate Governance Task Force. It took place at the FEAS Training Center in Istanbul.
The interactive presentation defined ESG reporting and explained the relationship between it and related topics, including: compliance; corporate governance; corporate social responsibility (CSR); disclosure; socially responsible investment (SRI); sustainability; and triple bottom line analysis. It charted the development of ESG reporting as a concept and a phenomenon, by presenting numerous examples and two mini-case studies. Statistics about reporting on CSR by the largest listed companies in CEE were presented and comparisons with peers in other regions, including other emerging markets, were be made. The presentation explained that ESG reporting involves disclosure of information about both internalities within and externalities surrounding a corporation. The fundamental message of the presentation was that careful analysis and effective management of these internalities and externalities brings both internal and external benefits to the corporation.