Trade Finance
Published  9 MIN READ

Taking Care of Business

ESG’s Role in Supply Chain Resilience

In the second of this three-part series taking a supply chain finance perspective on some of the foremost issues of the day, experts from Taulia – Blake Evans, Head of Sales for Americas, Alexander Mutter, Managing Director EMEA, and Steve Scott, Head of Sales APAC – consider how ESG elements are influencing supply chain activities and driving changes in working capital management.

The rise of ESG as a force for good could not have failed to escape the attention of the global treasury community. Yet bringing its practice into day-to-day treasury activities still has a way to go. It’s not that most treasurers don’t want to make a positive difference to the environment, to society, and to the way businesses conduct themselves; but that the current ESG-focused treasury solution set is perceived to be relatively limited in its scope.

That said, an increasing number of corporate treasuries are beginning to find that there is more to ESG than green bonds. Products such as sustainability-linked loans and deposits, energy transition finance, investments in ESG-focused funds (including MMFs), and sustainable project finance, are now supported by stronger ESG frameworks, new guidance and regulations, and greater standardisation and trust among ESG ratings providers.

These developments are a sign that ESG is slowly shifting to the centre ground in many aspects of treasury and finance. Even areas previously untouched by ESG are now being drawn into the discussion. One area where ESG is making its mark is supply chain finance (SCF).