Archive
Opinions
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COP27 Reflections: Transforming Trade to Accelerate Climate Action
November 18, 2022
Tim Harding, Associate Director and International Trade Lead COP27 has been framed as being all about implementation, with delegates looking for substantial but practical solutions to a challenge of immense scale: A report commissioned by the UK and Egyptian governments estimated developing nations will require $2 trillion per year by 2030 for energy transition alone. International trade can play a pivotal role driving climate improvement and make progress on this implementation gap, if only governments...
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Re-evaluating Employee Value Proposition for the new era of work
November 18, 2022
It’s time to let go of the idea of “employer brand.” You have only one brand — it’s what the world, employees, and prospective talent all see and interact with — and amid the tightest global labour market in decades, it must be thoughtfully established and maintained to attract all audiences. Instead, organizations should focus on defining their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) as the way to differentiate their unique talent offering, boost performance and engagement...
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COP27 Reflections: Authentic communication is critical to maintaining public belief in corporate engagement
November 17, 2022
Imogen Sackey, Associate Director, Corporate Reputation & Purpose; and Anthea Flint, Director, Consumer Almost half of consumers either don’t know which business commitments to believe in or don’t trust companies on climate change and sustainability issues. Given 64% of the British public believe business is accountable for helping to tackle climate change, this lack of credibility is worth paying attention to. Looking at the journey to COP27 and engagement on the ground, it is perhaps easy...
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ESG doublespeak: The authenticity gap
November 16, 2022
My last post, 'Knowing the score', highlighted how companies might assess CSR-bang for ESG-buck and how third-party ratings can play a role in the trouble with ESG. We’ll now hone in on how the 'feel-good' acronym is marketed, why, and the unintended consequences. Register to join us on Wednesday 30th November from 2-3 PM (GMT) to explore the role of communications in disentangling ESG at a time when sustainability has never been higher on the...
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FleishmanHillard COP27 Reflections: Youth take their seat at the table
November 15, 2022
Jamal Johnson, graduate trainee, Consumer Brand, Youth & Culture Week one of COP27 was dominated by the arrival of world leaders and negotiations to scale up the investment needed to tackle the climate crisis. And while this COP feels a little lacklustre in comparison to years past (including the notable absence from Greta Thunberg), the voice of youth staked a new claim at the Summit with the first-ever dedicated COP platform. On Wednesday, a dedicated...
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FleishmanHillard UK November Monthly Media Briefing
November 15, 2022
This month’s Media Briefing focused on the two main crises dominating the headlines: the cost-of-living and the climate. To gain some insight into the coverage on both topics, our head of news Pete Meikle spoke with International Correspondent for Sky News, Saima Mohsin, who currently presents across a spectrum of Sky News programmes, including their dedicated climate programme – The Daily Climate Show. Climate Crisis Saima explained that coverage of climate change has evolved significantly...
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COP27 Reflections: Some optimism, need for action and transparency in net zero
November 14, 2022
Carly Hilkin, Director, Corporate Reputation & Purpose Heading into COP27 this year, I, like many I expect, felt cynical. How could you not be? However, watching the first week of conference headlines has struck a slightly different chord. The “implementation COP” has already seen multiple noteworthy successes: Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottle’s innovative “Bridgetown Agenda” outlining solutions to providing more climate finance was broadly well-received, multiple countries announced new regulations for tackling emissions, and...
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ESG doublespeak: Knowing the score with ESG ratings
November 10, 2022
In post “1. The uncomfortable truth”, we highlighted how ESG ratings don’t measure a company’s impact on the Earth and society. Let’s now look at how companies might assess CSR-bang for ESG-buck and how third-party ratings can play a role in the trouble with ESG. It had all started so well. In 2004, the Secretary-General of the United Nations wrote to over 50 CEOs of major financial institutions. He invited them to participate in a...
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FleishmanHillard COP27 Reflections: Finance that’s fit for the future
November 9, 2022
Imogen Sackey, Associate Director, Corporate Reputation & Purpose On Sunday, Managing Director of Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism Petrus Muteyauli captured the spirit of COP27 powerfully: “COP21 told us what to do, COP26 told us how to do it and COP27 calls us to go to the battlefield and implement what we decided over the past 27 years.” In recent years, the world has heard repeatedly of pledges to tackle the climate challenge with...
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Why the cost-of-living crisis has been surprisingly bad news for price comparison websites
November 4, 2022
The cost-of-living crisis should present a fabulous opportunity for price comparison websites to demonstrate their value to UK consumers. But, in reality, the sites have been hit by several headwinds – and the savings from switching have been dwarfed by the rise of energy bills and other costs. Last month’s announcement that Amazon is to enter the insurance market in an attempt to challenge price comparison websites sent a chill wind through the sector. Whilst...