A widespread trend across the public and private sectors, the adoption of ESG policies is the focus of civil society organizations, but many organizations can still improve internal procedures with specialized support
Sustainability is one of the buzzwords of the corporate world. Whether on social media, on billboards or in radio and television commercials, brands have invested in campaigns that associate them with environmental and social responsibilities. However, this new reality indicates an even more complex transformation.
The adoption of guidelines related to ESG – English acronym for Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance – gains emphasis given the more active role of companies in society. And this goes beyond each person’s economic reality. Civil society organizations (CSOs), which derive much of their revenue from donations, are also adding similar responsibilities. Even if they are created with the aim of promoting changes in society, third sector bodies strive to delve into issues that go beyond their functions.
“This transformation is not easy,” he acknowledges. Tomáz de Aquino Rezende, lawyer specialized in legal assistance to non-profit organizations and president of the Brazilian Confederation of Foundations (Cebraf). “But it is increasingly necessary, since institutions must also contribute to building a more aware, participatory and sustainable community,” she says.
However, according to the jurist, there is a trend that he considers natural in adaptation by civil society organizations (CSOs). According to him, this happens because third sector organizations were created to meet specific social needs. Something that meets the agenda proposed by ESG. “It is different, for example, from for-profit companies, which must combine economic objectives with social and environmental programs. In the case of civil society organizations, they are not the cause of the problem. They are the solution,” he compares.
Quote the Map of civil society organizations, produced by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), to demonstrate its thesis. In the 2020 edition there were 815 thousand third sector entities operating in the country. Of all of them, 35.9% worked in the development and defense of rights and interests, while another 29.6% carried out specific activities maintained by a religious body. Following as the predominant sectors are culture and leisure (10.9%), social assistance (3.6%) and education and research (3.6%).
“An organization that aims to ensure a community’s access to education or healthcare, for example, is already acting with the aim of breaking away from the inequality that serves as a source of poverty, violence and child labor, among many other problems .This says we are closer to adapting to ESG policies,” he notes. Tomáz de Aquino Rezende.
The entities lack specialized consultancy
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t gaps between ESG agendas and entities. Many, according to the lawyer, still depend on better structuring and even formalization to gather more resources, making internal transformations less traumatic.
“In general, what civil society organizations really need is consultancy, specialized guidance indicating the changes they can make in each procedure. Some changes are simpler, some less so. But based on this work they manage to creating a new society culture that brings them in line with environmental and social agendas is not that long a journey, but it is not that simple either,” he emphasizes.
Website: https://achinoresende.com.br/
Source: Terra
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