How tech lets investors separate substance from spin in today’s ESG landscape | Dylan Tanner (S2.E7)

When stakeholders want a look at a company’s ESG record, it’s easy to head to its website and wade through reports, audits and press releases. But sometimes, this just isn’t enough. Going deeper requires more detective work and often yields surprising results from unfamiliar sources. Dylan Tanner, executive director of InfluenceMap, leads a team that analyses financial disclosures, investor communications, hard scientific data and social media, as well as issuing freedom of information requests, to get clear, fact based insights into the real ESG footprint of a company. Armed with this information, investors, corporate leaders and policymakers are empowered with a true understanding of where a company stands on its commitment to help combat the climate crisis -- including the funding of research and lobbying that may run counter to public commitments -- and can make better-informed decisions to guide policies to create a cleaner and more responsible business culture.
Dylan Tanner co-founded InfluenceMap in 2015, on the eve of the Paris Climate Agreement. Today, InfluenceMap provides bespoke analysis of the climate agenda and has been used by hundreds of investors and informed numerous campaigns. The organisation is best known for its platform for analysing corporate lobbying on climate policy. As Executive Director, Dylan holds overall responsibility for its global operations.

(0:00) Begin 
(1:24) Dylan introduction and how InfluenceMap works 
(5:03) How do you collect and compile data at InfluenceMap? 
(6:01) How do you make sure your findings are as accurate and robust as possible? 
(7:43) Are you optimistic about the future with what you see at an event like the recent COP28? 
(10:36) How does a consumer or investor know which companies are good actors or bad actors? 
(12:40) Do companies ever disagree with your ratings, or can we simply say the facts are the facts? 
(15:28) Do you think most companies ‘get it’ and are moving beyond superficial box-ticking? 
(17:01) Are ratings agencies that also offer consulting services to clients a conflict of interests? 
(18:29) You talk about how companies need to have a ‘whole-of-system approach’. What does that mean and how does it work? 
(20:55) What strategies can companies use to achieve more robust trust, truth and transparency with stakeholders? 
(24:10) Will the issue be helped by more corporate leaders becoming more familiar with the science of climate change? 
(25:37) Where can we go to get news so we can remain well-informed without being overwhelmed with news? 
(26:47) The Takeaway: What advice do you have for corporate leaders who want to get things right, and how can consumers train themselves to look beyond the window dressing? 
(29:56) Host wrap-up