FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 6, 2023
CONTACT: Jeanne Metzger | Vice President of Communications
Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals
jeanne@accp.org | 202-796-5881
American Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals Submits Statement to Congressional Committee in Support of ESG
“Corporate environmental, social, and government (ESG) practices are necessary strategies to remain competitive in the global economy,”said Carolyn Berkowitz, president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP)
Fairfax, VA – Today before a joint hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives titled, “ESG Part II: The Cascading Impacts of ESG Compliance,” the American Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) president and CEO Carolyn Berkowitz submitted a written statement for the record emphasizing that “restricting or discouraging ESG imperils free enterprise.”
Berkowitz commented on today’s hearing, “ESG is a proven strategy for investor success and is backed by 70% of CEOs who say it provides increased financial returns for their companies. To describe ESG as a ‘progressive scheme’ is an overreach that defies the business acumen of the world’s leading CEO’s and the free choices of retirees, consumers, and employees. Distorting facts will not help our economy grow or our businesses succeed.”
The joint hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services was held to examine ESG practices and regulations. ACCP, the nation’s leading advocate for corporate social impact professionals, was asked to educate the committee on the urgent importance of businesses to prioritize ESG practices.
In a statement for the record submitted to the Committee for today’s hearing, ACCP president and CEO Carolyn Berkowitz stated that:
“Taken together, the ESG discipline provides corporations with data and strategies that are material to their companies’ success. CEOs and corporate boards are embracing and increasing ESG practices because of its measurably positive impact on business outcomes.
Restricting or discouraging ESG imperils free enterprise. To do so disadvantages financial competitiveness, limits participation in global markets, restricts opportunities to attract and retain top talent, increases risk, and jeopardizes reputation among consumers and other stakeholders. Corporations must have agency to carry out strategies that aid in their success, regardless of irrelevant culture wars imposed by activist legislators.”
Berkowitz outlines four clear pro-business growth reasons why ESG practices are essential to the health and long-term success of the U.S. business sector:
- ESG Practices Provide Financial and Competitive Advantage: 70% of U.S. CEOs said in a recent KPMG survey that their ESG programs improved their companies’ financial performance.
- Employees Prioritize Working at Purpose-Driven Companies: Utilizing proven strategies for recruiting, retaining, and engaging top talent is critical for innovation in a rapidly changing business environment.
- ESG Helps Mitigate Risk and Is Required for Commerce in the Global Economy: Without considering ESG practices, companies risk lower valuation, increased operational threats, and restrictions on their ability to conduct business internationally.
- ESG Contributes to a Positive Corporate Reputation: Reputation takes years of consistent work to build and communicate, but only minutes to destroy when misleading, inconsequential sound bites generate factless backlash. When the reputations of companies are deliberately destroyed in a culture war, America cannot and will not achieve its economic potential.
Berkowitz recently penned a guest opinion-editorial in Investment News titled, “Why the ESG backlash has little effect on corporations: Politicians’ manufactured controversies are having minimal impact in boardrooms.” In the piece, Berkowitz writes, “In 2023, shareholder meetings are more likely than ever to promote the value that environmental, social and governance and corporate social responsibility programs provide to their businesses’ bottom lines.”
Read the statement here: Statement for the Record of Carolyn S. Berkowitz.
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The Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) is the preeminent membership organization advancing the practice of corporate social impact. ACCP increases the effectiveness of CSR & ESG professionals and their companies by sharing knowledge, fostering solutions, and cultivating inclusive and supportive peer communities. ACCP amplifies the voices of its practitioner network to elevate strategies that work, provide innovative solutions, and expand impact.
