ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance and is shaping industry and investment. This is having an impact on the construction and infrastructure sector and the impacts of this are wide ranging. This podcast features an interview with Mark Coates, Strategic Industry Engagements Director in the UK for Bentley Systems.
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The ESG - environmental, social and governance criteria - agenda is becoming more important for businesses and financial institutions are using ESG metrics to assess future investment decisions.
The first, on environment, relates to aspects such as waste, recycling, resource input, and carbon. This agenda is becoming even more critical in light of legally binding targets to reduce carbon and as the UK hosts COP-26 the focus on this is intensifying as action on climate change continues to accelerate. Mark Coates from Bentley said a few years ago that BIM would actually be driven by banks and insurance companies. His prediction appears to be accurate, as he explained on the CIHT podcast:
I see actually now that Digital Twins and ESG are actually now being driven by the banks and insurance companies because action on infrastructure will be critical for meeting the uk's carbon budgets and continuing progress towards net zero
What is interesting is that this all means that data will become more and more important from both a financial and carbon perspective. As Mark explained more on the interview, he said:
banks...are being audited on their loans from a carbon aspect amongst other things and when you're being audited you have to give that data
The impacts of the Grenfell for the construction industry was also explored, as the Chief Inspector of Buildings Peter Barker has said, the public has "lost complete confidence in the construction industry’s ability to build safe and good-quality buildings”. The governance agenda for the construction sector is critical to get right.
There are clearly major challenges ahead for the construction industry from rebuilding public trust to getting to grips with the ESG, but the role of digital and data will be crucial in this.
To listen to the series of podcasts go to: www.ciht.org.uk/podcasts
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
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