Geopolitical risk: The extra ‘G’ in ESG

The benign political context in which many businesses globalised their market presence, supply chains and support services is disappearing.

Organisations face an increasing variety of challenges from geo-economic competition between states and the emergence of an unstable geopolitical environment, which increases the complexity of ESG decisions.

Against this backdrop, The Risk Coalition has issued principles-based guidance for geopolitical risk oversight and its integration with ESG issues.

It notes that organisations may lack the experience, capabilities and skills needed to manage geopolitical risk exposures and anticipate the ESG challenges these can create.

The guidance is aimed at boards, risk oversight committees and risk functions. It covers a total of 54 key issues that span accountability, risk culture, wider geopolitical risk management, and the integration of analytical capabilities and expertise with regard to geopolitical and related ESG issues in business planning.

”Agile governance is key to addressing risks which are not easily quantifiable, increasingly non-linear and with wide-ranging first and second order business impacts,” says The Risk Coalition.