The presentation is from Mrs. Ini Onuk, Lead Consultant/CEO, ThistlePraxis Consulting, from the just concluded African Round Table & Conference on Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (AR-CSR™), which held in Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar, Cross River State between 20 to 21 June, 2013. Organised by ThistlePraxis Consulting Limited

1. WHO SHOULD DRIVE THE AGENDA?
Ini Onuk

2. ‘This agenda of sustainability and corporate
responsibility is not only central to business strategy
but will increasingly become a critical driver of
business growth....I believe that how well and how
quickly businesses respond to this agenda will
determine which companies succeed and which will
fail.’
Patrick Cescau, CEO of Unilever
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE AGENDA?

3. PEOPLE AGENDA:
Developing, engaging and attracting employees
through real community and social projects

4. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS AGENDA:
Businesses to maximize the impact
of engaging in society

5. THE AGENDA
The sustainability agenda begins with making a commitment to
incorporating social, environmental, economic and ethical factors
into strategic decision-making. It extends to evaluating how these
factors affect the society— including all of its stakeholders — and
what risks and opportunities these factors present.
Government/Business leaders who operate sustainably recognize
that social, environmental, economic and ethical factors affect
their core business strategies. These leaders evaluate the
spectrum of sustainability issues and respond by mitigating risks
and leveraging
opportunities.

6. THE PLAYERS

7. AGENDA 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented action
plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable
development. It is a product of the UN Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in 1992.
It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral
organizations, and individual governments around the world
that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. The
"21" in Agenda 21 refers to the 21st Century. It has been
affirmed and modified at subsequent UN conferences.
GOVERNMENT

8. INVESTORS
 Calls for responsible approach to capitalism are growing, along with the
sense that a more sophisticated understanding of investment risk – one
which takes longer-term sustainability issues into account – is urgently
required. The financial crisis have highlighted the importance of companies
having business strategies that are sustainable over both the short and the
long-term.
 There is a growing need to 'do more with less' in the context of population
growth, climate change and resource availability, particularly with regards to
pollution and the consumption of energy and water resources. Integrating
environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into investment
decisions is critical in supporting efforts to tackle the pressing issues of
climate change, population growth, food security, community development
and human rights.

9. THE STOCK EXCHANGES
These is significant scope for more stock exchanges to take the lead in
advancing sustainability by promoting a more systematic approach to integrated
corporate reporting on ESG issues, applying ESG standards within IPO and
ongoing listing rules, promoting the adaptation of global corporate governance
codes, and by offering ESG-related trading and benchmarking products such as
sustainability indices.

10. THE COMMUNITIES
It will be desirous to see more ‘local stakeholders’ (especially with
the level of sophistication and technology penetration) put more
pressure on the various stakeholders to DEVELOP, PROMOTE,
SUSTAIN or CHAMPION an agenda…
Stakeholders are no longer POWERLESS, NAÏVE and DOCILE.

11. ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS
Academic institutions can participate in the following ways:
 Thought Leadership
 Research
 Finding case studies
 Working as support institutions with organisations

12. BIG QUESTION
Who then should then should DRIVE
the agenda for innovation and
sustainability?

13. THE AGENDA MATRIX
PRIVATE SECTOR
NON-
GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANISATIONS
MULTI-LATERAL
ORGANISATIONS

14. BIG QUESTION
And what is the role of governments
of Africa in driving a sustainability
agenda?

15. BIG QUESTION
Do we need a common agenda or
should national governments
develop and implement peculiar
plans?

16. THE AFRICAN SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA
Private organizations (businesses and supporting organizations such
as consulting firms) must identify the opportunity, champion a
commonly accepted yet continuously improving agenda and
leverage on this to achieve the following:
• Tangible impact
• Improved bottom line
• Sustainability of the society in which they operate

17. THANK YOU
@inionuk
ini@thistlepraxisconsulting.com
www.inionuk.com