Impact-led innovation: investors’ friend or foe?

by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed
 Last week I had the opportunity to take part in a panel discussion at Connected Places Catapult. The topic of discussion was ‘Impact-led innovation: investor’s friend or foe?’ The discussion was facilitated by  Yusuf Chadun, the Catapult’s SME Investor Relations Manager. The other panelists were Arnold du Toit, Co-Founder and CEO WeSprint, and Rajiv Tanna, CO-Founder and CPO of Birdie. The discussion Given I work in ESG, it won’t have been surprising for me to say that impact led innovations, and being able to clearly evidence that impact, is an investor’s friend. As I flagged, I work with companies to develop their approach to ESG.  I outlined that the focus of ESG is on risk management and sustainability in the broadest sense.   We then moved on to discuss what we mean by impact-led innovation. For me, impact-led innovations are both longer terms, and focus on what’s termed the triple bottom line with its emphasis on profit, people and planet, as opposed to a...
Read More
Health and equity in the built environment

Health and equity in the built environment

by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed
I’m pleased to announce that I and Keyah Consulting Ltd are signatories of the Urban Land Institute’s Commitment to Health and Equity in the Built Environment. The Commitment is an actionable commitment. It is to affirm health and equity as core values of our work. It’s a call to action to those of us shaping of our cities and communities and decision-making processes tied to the built environment. It’s founded on the recognition that our decisions and actions have a significant impact on our lives and our communities. It also recognises our responsibility in supporting conditions that improve the health, environmental quality, economic vitality, and social equity of communities. I see my contribution, and that of Keyah Consulting’s, as promoting the importance of health and equity considerations across the built environment through talks, articles and promoting good work that is taking place. There’s also important work to be done through the ESG lens – in working with companies to embed these considerations across...
Read More
The District Show – Real estate and the UN SDGs

The District Show – Real estate and the UN SDGs

by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed
Last week I was in Barcelona at the inaugural conference -  The District. It brought together a range of specialists across real estate with a focus on investment. I had been invited for a panel discussion on how the real estate sector is contributing to delivery of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main points I made include: That the SDGs are more thematic in nature than Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), factors. The SDGs are globally recognised and can be integrated into business strategy. However, it’s important in linking the SDGs to strategy that this is grounded in specific metrics i.e. there are 17 SDGs with a total of 169 targets. And that in the next iteration of these global goals, that we focus on a ‘just transition’ in terms of addressing, mitigating, and adapting, to climate change. The SDGs form an important part of my conversations with clients. I work with them to identify the most relevant SDGs, and the specific targets...
Read More