Click here to read the first part of the article.
introduction
aiESG, Inc. is a start-up company born out of the Shunsuke Managi Laboratory at Kyushu University, Japan. aiESG has been working to improve ESG-related laws and regulations in Japan as well as in Europe and the United States, and companies are now required to take a more sophisticated approach to sustainability. What are the fundamental issues that companies are facing in order to realize a better society, and how will the environment surrounding ESG evolve in the future?
We spoke at length with board members of aiESG, Inc.
Profile of interlocutor
Shunsuke Managi: Representative Director / Senior Professor, Kyushu University
Daikichi Seki: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Keely Alexander Ryuta: Director and Chief Researcher (CR) / Associate Professor, Kyushu University
Syutaro Takeda: Chief Scientific Advisor
Moderator: Asami Katayama / Public Relations, aiESG
latter part
We will approach the dilemma that companies are facing and overcome it with AI technology.
What value will the services provided by aiESG add to a company's ESG response?
- Takeda
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Many companies claim to give consideration to the SDGs and gender balance, but the reality of how well they are realizing ESG and SDGs is not known. There is a large gap between philosophy and reality.
If this can be quantified and visualized using aiESG's AI technology, companies will be able to understand potential risks and find solutions, and it will also become a point of appeal based on the facts.
- Managi
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For our part, we do not just want to provide assessment tools, but also to reflect ESG in our corporate activities in a substantive manner and link them to solutions to issues. Together, we will establish a path to solutions, put it into practice, and make improvements. We will also work together to find the next direction for technological development. We believe that only in this way can a company achieve ESG-compliant growth.
We can help executives who are seriously considering what direction to take the industry and their technology.
- Seki
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The main actor in ESG practices is the company, and aiESG is a compass to help them move in the right direction.
As academia and as a group of engineers, we approach our clients' issues intimately. And we propose the direction in which we should head in a data-driven manner, while keeping a bird's eye view of the state of the world.
Why is aiESG able to provide such services?
- Seki
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The basic premise is that aiESG as an organization is overwhelmingly an "AI startup". The fact that all of us can create advanced AI may be a big difference from other companies; we are an organization of AI experts, and the direction we are looking at is "contribution to society. That is why we are able to bring our respective specialties together and aim for true problem-solving.
The field of ESG response faces various dilemmas, such as daily KPIs and the difficulty of obtaining cooperation from supply chain companies. We would like to support our clients in clearing these dilemmas with aiESG's AI technology so that they can conduct truly valuable analysis and decision-making.
Create a society in which ESG initiatives are the norm.
How do you see the situation surrounding ESG in the future?
- Managi
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The world's growing interest in social issues is certainly a trend.
In the future, more attention will be paid not only to climate change, but also to issues such as air pollution, toxic chemicals, biodiversity, and human rights. However, even if we can solve one problem, it will be meaningless if it creates adverse effects elsewhere. True solutions cannot be realized without looking at a variety of things at the same time.
That is why it is essential to properly evaluate, based on data, how to solve the problem to produce "overall good results. It is then essential to determine the next guideline.
The trend toward quantifying and visualizing social issues as data and using it for business to generate profits will accelerate in the future.
- Seki
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In Europe, a law called CSRD (EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) has been enacted. Large companies will be obliged to disclose their CO2 emissions, impact on human rights violations, etc., retroactively through their supply chains. Large Japanese companies are also directly or indirectly subject to this law, as they have overseas subsidiaries or transactions with overseas companies.
The effects of this will continue to ripple out. Some companies are still taking a wait-and-see approach, but my feeling is that we should take action as soon as possible, both from a cost-conscious and up-front investment standpoint.
- Keely
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For companies, the scope of sustainability initiatives will expand to include management of the entire supply chain, and human resources and costs will also increase.
Rather than thinking in-house about how to respond to ESG, it is necessary to save labor by utilizing external tools.
Currently, many companies use the tool as a checklist for regulatory compliance, but in order to link ESG initiatives to their own development, it is important to accumulate data as an asset and apply it to management judgment and decision making.
What does a company need to do to make the most of ESG for its own development?
- Keely
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It would be to strengthen cooperation among departments in ESG. Currently, no matter what the ESG promotion department says, the field sometimes thinks that it is not worth it. With point-based initiatives, it will remain an optimization within the department, and ESG will not progress substantially.
In order to look toward a common goal as a company, it is important to first understand the impact your company has on society through objective data.
- Takeda
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Global warming is now common knowledge for us. That it is CO2 that causes it and that companies are aware of their CO2 emissions are also taken for granted. The same thing will happen in the future in areas of ESG that have not yet been made "visible.
The problem of the ozone hole is the only case that mankind has ever successfully solved. The reason why we were able to solve it is because we had pioneers who studied the effects of CFC gases and advocated measurement and regulation. We hope to do the same and create a society where ESG initiatives are the norm in areas such as human rights and other environmental indicators.
What will it take for ESG to become the norm?
- Takeda
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I believe it is credibility and transparency. If someone feels that a new rule proposed by someone else is "self-serving," it will not spread in society. That is why it is important to communicate "why aiESG initiatives are necessary for society" based on objective facts.
Academia should always be neutral and a place where rule-making can take place. I believe that startups originating from academia are a very important element in realizing the norm that we want to create.
- Managi
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At aiESG, we have a diverse group of people with specialized expertise. That is why we are able to approach corporate issues from a variety of angles.
If you are a company that wants to change the future of your company and society for the better, I encourage you to consult with aiESG. I hope that we can work together to solve the issues we face today and create a society in which ESG is the norm.
- Asami Katayama Katayama Asami
- Corpolate Development Department
- His life's work is "to propose and realize solutions and methods that enable people, society, and businesses to coexist in harmony with the global environment" and he has extensive experience in public relations and project management. She studied sustainable urban development in Portland, Oregon, one of the most environmentally advanced cities in the United States. After returning to Japan, she worked for an international environmental NGO, a consulting firm, and an environmental social venture firm, and is currently engaged in public relations and PR at aiESG as a sustainability specialist.
