Suffolk University’s Environmental Club hosted a CUES Lecture with Dr. Anne Schander, an associate professor in the accounting and business law department, Tuesday night The event revolved around career paths in a new field, known as environmental, social and governance reporting.

The latest in the CUES Lecture Series, organized by Suffolk’s Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, discussed how business can correlate with sustainability. ESG reporting is a developing job landscape that is looking to incorporate more science-minded individuals.

“We should be extending these jobs to undergraduate science students,” said Schander. “Why not give these people an opportunity if they’re interested?” 

The professor dove into this evolving line of work and how it connects to the business side. According to Shnader, “sustainability means activities that sustain or maintain the business” itself. It also goes hand in hand with how an organization continues while creating value through time. 

ESG itself revolves around social environmental impacts that leaders use in order to set the tone for organizations and businesses. The reporting aspect of this field is based on companies and businesses (mainly public) who bear or borrow investment money from the public who need to disclose information to the community. The general public is then able to evaluate these organizations.

“Sustainability/ESG reporting is about informing the public about environmental activities, social activities and governance activities that affect the well-being of the business,” said Schnader. 

Despite the professor having a background in the business world, she drew connections between both business and the environment. 

The worldwide organization Coca-Cola heavily relies on water, an environmental essential, in order to maintain its prosperity. Schnader notes that efficiency, inefficiency, cleanliness and energy are all vital when making their product.

Packaging is another important environmental aspect in the business world. Companies and businesses rely on materials, sources of material, the dependability of material, recyclability, etc.  If there are specific resources that are depleting with time, these businesses have to resort to new means.

Schander acknowledges that this wasn’t talked about five years ago but is currently ‘exploding’ with jobs today. According to the professor, billions and trillions of dollars are now being invested with these new ideals in mind. 

“Over the last five years, corporations are now choosing to not only talk about financial information but they are also talking about these activities at the same time,” said Schnader. “Ten years ago, almost no public companies gave reports on these kinds of activities. Today 86% of them do.”

Since this field is entirely new and continues to grow, there are no set expectations or qualifications for it. Jobs in this developing area are increasing and will continue to do so within the next few years, Schnader said.

“The field is wide open now and it’s not going anywhere,” said Schnader.

The professor hopes to create a program for Suffolk students who want to choose this career path. For anyone that wants to reach out for more information, you can email her at [email protected].

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