Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG)- Why Supporting Local Artists is Good Business
By Tawny McKee
With all the new and trending terms out there, sometimes it’s hard to determine what’s worth your time and what’s not. While Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) has been around for years now and has gone relatively unnoticed, that’s about to change.
According to Financial Times, ESG is a trend that you simply can’t afford to ignore. This is because with the new generation of investors, sustainable investing is here for the long term. And with the rise of trends like NFT investing, more and more people are looking at investing in and supporting sustainable businesses they believe in.
So, what is ESG exactly and how does this relate to supporting local artists? Let me explain.
What is ESG?
ESG is a rating system that was created to measure the environmental, social, and governance of a business to get one overall rating. The rating determines where a business is currently in terms of sustainability by evaluating these specific elements. The score a business receives can help determine if they are where they’d like to be or if they’d like to work to improve it.
Whatever a business decides to do will affect its whole ecosystem. In essence, because each aspect of ESG is interconnected, whatever it decides to do in an environmental capacity for example, will also affect the social and governance aspects of the business. Therefore, when a business supports local artists, it impacts each of the three categories. This in turn increases the overall ESG score as a result.
Also, when a business is motivated and committed to their ESG vision for a sustainable business, its authenticity shines through. Not only does this show transparency, but it also helps potential customers and investors build trust with the business.
Environmental
What is the businesses impact on the environment?
• The environmental pillars that are considered for an ESG rating include pollution, resource use, ecological footprint, and climate change.
By supporting artists locally, you’re purchasing or showcasing original artwork and not mass- produced reproductions from factories. There are numerous perks to this but essentially, you’re helping the environment while supporting your local community.
Social
What kind of social good does the business do? Internally as well as within the community, and in the world at large.
• The social pillars that influence ESG include health and safety, customer responsibility, community impact, and labour standards. This can include things such as inclusion programs, hiring practices, LGBTQ2SA+ equality, racial diversity, and supporting locally.
When you support local artists with a business, it creates positive community impact. Not only does it show care for the community its involved in, but locally sourced artwork often has more relatability as well as cultural significance. This is because people who are from the same or comparable areas tend to have similar experiences as well as cultural values. Another perk of local art is its uniqueness, no one will have the same piece on their walls!
Governance
What is the company doing internally to adopt positive change?
• Governance factors include shareholder rights, risk management, tax transparency, and anti-corruption. This can include things such as competitive pay and diversity in leadership as well as engagement with shareholders.
When a business chooses to display local art, it can also decide to support an artist that aligns with its mission. A good example of this could be a business that is trying to make progressive changes and achieve more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) inclusion within it and as a measure to achieve that, they display predominately artwork made by self-identifying BIPOC artists.
The standards and principles of ESG can be a lot to take in. But by leveraging the three elements of environmental, social, and governance, it creates a solid and sustainable framework. And with a few simple tweaks like supporting local artists, a business can be on the path to a great ESG score in no time!
To learn more about how helloart can help enhance your ESG mission, click here.
Photo by Vecteezy
