Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Initiative
“A confirmation that we are on track with our strategic thinking on ESG.”
- Biopharma
The Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Initiative was set up to address the common interest of leading biopharma companies and investors in achieving more effective, efficient, and decision-useful communications about the sector’s most important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics.
The Challenge
Superior performance in the high-priority ESG areas is positively related to long-term corporate financial performance. However, deciding which ESG topics are most relevant and how to structure the ESG communications for the capital markets is challenging due to several factors:
- Fatigue over proliferation of competing ESG ratings, standards, and frameworks
- Confusion over score divergence and perceived transparency of ESG ratings
- Absence of constructive dialogue with investors around the priority ESG topics given that capacity to engage is limited on both the investor and the company side
Consensus Oriented Dialog
The Initiative facilitates a direct dialog between biopharma companies and their investors. The conversations seek a consensus around investor information needs for assessing corporate ESG strategy, governance, risks, opportunities, and performance.
A core biopharma working group engages directly with key investor company contributors. A larger pool of executives from more than 25 biopharma and 28 investor companies have participated in interviews, discussions, and workshops since 2018.
In 2020, the Initiative expanded the dialog to include key stakeholder groups, such as standard setters, industry associations, and third-party ESG rating agencies.
Forward-looking Guidance
The Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Guidance (April 2020 version) distills the consensus from two years of direct biopharma and investor engagement.
Intended as a resource for both biopharma and investors, it provides a high-level roadmap that identifies 12 ESG topics of shared priority and gives recommendations on how to communicate that can be adapted to a company’s own strategy business model and readiness.
The next generation of the Guidance is informed by the ongoing biopharma-investor dialog, is improved by case use experience, and is compatible with the fast-evolving global ESG reporting landscape.
Initiative Partners, Participants, and Sponsors
Publications
“Senior Management trusts the Guidance because it has been tested with peers and investors.”
-Biopharma
Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Guidance 3.0
Available for participants and contributors only – please contact us if you are interested.
Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Guidance
April 2020
Integrating Sustainability and Long Term Planning for the Biopharma Sector
Myrto Kontaxi, BSRT, and Brian Tomlinson, CECP, on integrating CECP’s Long-Term Plan Framework and the Biopharma Investor ESG Communications Guidance to support sustainable long-term strategy for biopharma.
Ongoing Dialogs
“Since the Initiative launched, more than 100 executives from biopharma and investor companies have engaged in high-value direct dialogs. Discussions with key stakeholder groups are ongoing, and the circle of contributors is expanding.”
BSRT Investor Network Participants
