Norwegian Boards: Facing an ESG Expertise Crunch

Facing the ESG Expertise Crunch – New Rules Demand Deeper Knowledge amongst Norwegian Boards

For more information, please reach out to Kristjan Jespersen (kj.msc@cbs.dk).

Innovation AlliancE for Training PrograMMes for Deforestation- Free Supply Chain in Europe – EMMA4EU

Global deforestation is on the rise as forests are cleared for agricultural activities, particularly the production of forest risk commodities (FRCs) like palm oil, soy, beef, and coffee. The European Union (EU) is a major consumer of FRCs, contributing to 16% of global deforestation—an area comparable to Luxembourg. Ensuring that imported FRCs don’t harm the environment and communities is crucial.

Deforestation is often seen solely as a forestry issue, neglecting its connection to how we grow food, trade goods, and consume products along supply chains. Recognizing this, the EMMA4EU project aims to address deforestation by forming an EU alliance of universities, schools, businesses, public organizations, and NGOs. This collaboration seeks to develop innovative training for a new professional role—the deforestation-free supply chain (DFSC) manager.

CBS actively collaborates within the EMMA4EU consortium, comprising 11 partners globally. Our key role involves assessing training and implementation, managing process-oriented activities, and overseeing project aspects like dissemination and communication. By diligently analyzing data from partners, we provide essential feedback to ensure project alignment with its plan and schedule. Together with consortium counterparts, we contribute to developing a robust research and assessment framework, exploring scientific literature on impact assessment and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) dimensions, including metrics and biodiversity-related financial risks in Deforestation-Free Supply Chains (DFSCs).

For more information, please reach out to Kristjan Jespersen (kj.msc@cbs.dk).

ESG Board Readiness Project – Funded by Copenhagen Fintech

This project aims at building sustainability readiness in Danish boards. Regulations such as the CSDD or CSRD increasingly require director’s to not only be diverse, but also to include climate action and human rights in their companies’ strategy. However, the EU Commission notes that boards are still ill equipped to drive the shift to sustainable business models.

The project thus aims at conducting a “pulse check” to the sustainability fit of Danish boards. Understanding the gaps can be a guidance in improving board sustainability competence and create a roadmap for future-proofing our companies.

For more information, please reach out to Kristjan Jespersen (kj.msc@cbs.dk).

No Forest No Trees Project – Funded by Packard Foundation

Despite growing attention from the international community, deforestation continues at alarming rates, with 12 million hectares of tropical tree cover loss recorded in 2018. Deforestation jeopardizes national climate goals and erodes social and ecological resilience at local and global scales. Recently, numerous rounds of multi-billion dollar initiatives have been organized to improve forest management, including through a variety of financial mechanisms, including Conservation Finance (CF).

This research aims at designing and testing a rigorous methodology for assigning responsibility for CF to lead firms in palm oil value chains, helping alleviate the problem of assigning responsibility and providing a resource for external stakeholders seeking to identify firms’ contributions to land cover change. This research will identify several possible models for assessing spatial footprints of lead firms’ supply chains in the oil palm sector, testing their feasibility with a selected group of investors and conservation project proponents.

For more information, please reach out to Kristjan Jespersen (kj.msc@cbs.dk).