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HUNGER
WHY GETTING WORSE NOT BETTER? TriplePundit: Global Hunger ... The Growing ESG Issue That Few Companies Want to Face 
USAID emergency food relief in east africa - famine - fighting global hunger ... Image credit: USAID U.S. Agency for International Development/Flickr Original article: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/global-hunger-esg-issue/770221 Peter Burgess COMMENTARY I don't agree with much in the following article except that 'global hunger' is getting worse not better. I suppose I am also in agreement that ESG is being avoided by corporate leadership ... but my position on ESG is that it is more than anything else a convenient way of talking about important things ... specifically environment (E) and society (S) without actually getting to grips with how these two things are linked to the other key performance element of the company, that is the economics and the profits of the company. Governance (G) is a management characteristic of a company that determines performance and not, in itself, a performance metric. These are the sections in the essay:
Global hunger is a big problem and getting worse. Growing global hunger is a manifestation of a socio-enviro-economic system that is no longer fit-for-purpose and simply does not work. What is particularly aggravating is that the technological solutions for a better function world ... a better functioning socio-emviro-economic system ... exist and could be deployed if the people with power and influecne had a better underrstanding of how the global system actually functions and how improvement could be made. TrueValueMetrics.org (TVM) is a better framing for the management of the global socio-enviro-economic system. The objective is to accelerate performance improvement within the system so that the maximum of sustainable progress can be achieved. A core assumption is that modern technology is amazing and should be the foundation for better performance of the system. At the same time TVM recognises that in the real world great power for good is usually linked with a great power for bad ... both of which need to be taken into consideration and both fully accounted for. Within the world of corporate management there is the widespread deployment of 'double entry accounting systems'. They are powerful and to some extent include both the good (revenues) and bad (costs) in the performance accounting for a company. The rules and regulations associated with conventional financial reporting in most jurisdictions were put together in a different technological era, and need modernization in order to be effective. The management system needs to reflect a lot more than a simple double entry to become a multi perspective multi entry analysis framework that embraces society, environment and economy in a coherent and comprehansive manner. What will a system like this look like? Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!! Peter Burgess | ||
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Global Hunger: The Growing ESG Issue That Few Companies Want to Face
Words by Eric Bebernitz MAR 31, 2023 Companies are working to meet rising stakeholder expectations on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in ways that can differentiate, build brand reputation, and engage employees. Yet the predominant approach misses a critical opportunity since it doesn’t focus on a critical issue that few want to face: global hunger. Hear me out. Just as the climate crisis is a universal challenge, global hunger is a fundamental issue that ultimately impacts business success — and humanity as a whole. In 2021, an Action Against Hunger survey with The Harris Poll found that nearly half of all Americans worry about increases to the price of food as a result of climate change. The most recent Trust Barometer found that 67 percent of people globally are worried about food shortages leading to hoarding, riots and hunger, which Edelman characterizes as an existential societal fear. As a priority, the issue ranked behind climate change and just ahead of energy shortages. It’s not hard to see why. After decades of progress showed that it is possible to dramatically slash rates of malnutrition, global hunger is once again on the rise. Approximately 828 million people — 1 in 10 worldwide — are undernourished, and as many as 50 million people in 45 countries are on the verge of famine. The costs of inaction are high. Yet global hunger is a predictable and preventable problem that we can solve in our lifetimes. Doing so can provide a strong return on investment. As a 2022 study showed, every $1 invested in preventing chronic malnutrition in children can result in gains from $2 to $81 annually. Among the range of ESG issues, addressing malnutrition stands out for its ability to advance other corporate priorities, such as the following. Long-term workforce development Hungry children struggle to learn, and hungry workers are less productive. Hunger robs the U.S. economy of at least $167.5 billion annually, and research published in The Lancet found that, across 95 low- and middle-income countries, childhood stunting costs the private sector at least $135.4 billion in sales annually, amounting to around 1.2 percent of national GDP. Socio-economic growth The U.S. Secretary of Commerce believes an aging population will hit the country 'like a ton of bricks,' with migration as a potential solution. Africa is the only region projected to enjoy strong population growth long-term, which can provide a global demographic dividend — but only if we invest in the potential. Africa has the world’s youngest population as well as the highest hunger rates, with 9 out of 10 children not receiving even the minimum acceptable diet, according to the World Health Organization. One in 3 African children are permanently stunted by hunger, reducing the region’s present GDP per capita by 10 percent. Hunger is growing in other regions, as well. Political stability Conflict and global hunger are deeply linked. As U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted in a 2020 report, income inequality is creating a vicious cycle of discontent, leading to mass protests in both developed and developing countries. Roughly 70 percent of the world’s most malnourished people live in countries with an active conflict, which disrupts harvests, hampers aid delivery, and creates a burgeoning population of displaced people. This can contribute to even greater instability, often in already fragile regions. Permission to operate The epochal shift from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism comes as a growing number of millennial and Gen Z adults — now a majority of the U.S. workforce and a growing share of the electorate — hold a negative view of capitalism itself. Public willingness to subsidize, tax and regulate business can, quite literally, hinge on bread-and-butter issues. The bottom line: The untapped potential of investing to fight global hunger Although addressing global hunger is a wise investment, it’s one that isn’t being made. Countries with “crisis” levels of hunger face a 53 percent gap in hunger funding. Corporate giving to health and social services dropped 5 percent in 2022, and median international community investments decreased by 15 percent, according to CECP. Among the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, companies consistently report providing the least support for the objective to eradicate global hunger. Inaction is particularly unwise in an era when economic anxieties and the mass-class divide are eroding trust. The effect is sharply pronounced among those with lower incomes: In the U.S., for example, there is a 23-point gap in the levels of institutional trust among lower-income and higher-income groups. Lack of trust has a corrosive effect on society, dimming long-term economic prospects. In other words, chronic inequality — a major driver of global hunger — is bad for business. Ending hunger is no longer about charity or even being “woke.” It is now essential to foster the kind of operating environment that is essential to business value and long-term success. ERIC BEBERNITZ ... As Action Against Hunger’s Director of External Relations, Eric Bebernitz is responsible for driving the organization’s brand growth, communications, public relations, marketing, individual giving, and high-impact private partnerships. These activities aim to inspire and provide opportunities for people to take part in the global movement to end hunger. Prior to joining Action Against Hunger, Eric applied his fundraising, communications, and brand building expertise at the International Rescue Committee, Earthjustice, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
| The text being discussed is available at | https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/global-hunger-esg-issue/770221 and |