Archive
Opinions
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
ESG doublespeak: The uncomfortable truth about ESG investing
November 2, 2022
The audience was stunned. During his presentation at an FT Moral Money event on 19 May 2022, Stuart Kirk, the head of responsible investments at HSBC Asset Management, was adamant: “Climate change is not a financial risk that we need to worry about.” Was he breaking rank or shining a light on general insincerity? Despite its surge in popularity, many suspect that ESG investing will not address our generation’s urgent challenges. Consider the battle against...
-
Sunak’s Struggles: The challenges facing the new Prime Minister
October 27, 2022
A third Prime Minister in seven weeks: it’s perhaps an understatement to say that the past few months in UK politics have been unprecedented! The scale of the challenge which Sunak now faces would be a daunting prospect for any political heavyweight. Not only will he be tasked with bringing together a Conservative Party which is deeply divided amongst its many factions, but he will also have to try and steer the country through the...
-
COP27 Preview: Five questions that will shape the climate summit
October 27, 2022
Michael Hartt, Senior Partner and Head of International Affairs One year after the notable progress on climate action at COP26 in Glasgow, government figures, civil society organisations, scientific experts and business leaders are now preparing to visit Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27. But even with clear evidence the climate crisis is worsening, this year’s summit will open with difficult questions for attendees about whether the pace and depth of action is enough. The Egyptian...
-
FleishmanHillard UK Analysis: The New Cabinet – Rishi Sunak
October 26, 2022
Charley Sambridge, account director New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has kept Jeremy Hunt as his Chancellor and appointed MPs from all wings of the Conservative Party to his top table after he pledged to build a “big tent” Cabinet to bring unity and stability to government. In a reshuffle that Downing Street claimed would provide “continuity” in “uncertain times”, Sunak reappointed almost a third of the Cabinet to the same jobs they held under Truss...