Finance leaders are expected to keep up with the changing practices in businesses and enterprises globally, including the area of environment, social, and governance (ESG) framework.
As organisations realign their focus with the principles of ESG framework, chief financial officers need to step up for sustainability even if this is considered as a non-financial performance indicator as ESG represents the sustainable and ethical impact of a company’s corporate financial interests.
CFOs can make use of strategies to expedite the process of sustainability transformation within their organisations. Finance leaders can prioritise and focus on initiatives that push for the cause. However, it must be taken note of that the aim is to drive change not only to the corporate level but to the entire organisation.
In addition, finance leaders can drive performance and steer operations as strategists as they set goals to making decisions to draw up finance strategies, shaping the future of the company. CFOs must make use of their core finance skills from financial analysis to resource allocation to spearhead the transition towards a sustainable enterprise.
Moreover, CFOs should manage compliance and control systems in the ESG side of the organisation. They must also ensure that the company has understood and complied with the increasingly complex sustainability legislation put up by regulators.
An organisation's finance department must also run smoothly. Finance leaders must be able to monitor and adhere to the increasing demands of stakeholders for more reliable sustainability information. The finance department must be able to access, transform, and interpret this data quickly.
