What ESG means to rural landowners

THE POLITICIAN

REBECCA POW, DEFRA MINISTER

As we build back greener from the pandemic, we are taking world-leading action to improve our precious environment for future generations, having already committed to achieving net zero by 2050.

In this crucial year for nature, as the UK takes the lead on the global stage and hosts COP26, our landmark Environment Bill has returned to parliament. This will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth, including legislation to clean up the air we breathe, restore natural habitats and transform how we manage waste.

We are introducing new legally binding targets on species abundance for 2030, aiming to halt the decline of nature. We will recover threatened native species, treble tree planting rates and restore 35,000 hectares of degraded peatlands. 
We are also creating the Office of Environmental Protection to independently review the government’s environmental progress.

Beyond this, we are working on various green finance initiatives, including a Task Force for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures to provide a framework for institutions to report and act on evolving nature-related risks.

THE LOBBYIST

SARAH HENDRY, DIRECTOR GENERAL, THE CLA

In a busy world, important terms like “environmental and social governance” quickly shrink to acronyms. After 30+ years in environmental, social and economic policy, I worry that this undermines its meaning, it becomes jargon – nobody remembers to explain it. The risk of box-ticking looms.

In my present role, ESG stands for CLA members’ values. I know our members care passionately about their triple bottom line. Their employees, communities and the environment matter deeply alongside, and integral to, business profitability,
I also know it really matters to CLA employees to work for an organisation that holds these values. It motivates excellent people to join us and do a great job for our members.

It means being vocal about what the CLA stands for – not least because “lobbying groups” and “landowners” are ready targets for caricature. That’s why the rural economy, environment and communities get equal billing in the CLA’s new purpose. It underpins our credibility and influence.

And crucially for me, it means being held to account against our values, which is why the CLA is seeking accreditation under the Good Business Charter, to show it is not just box-ticking!

THE FARMER

SOPHIE ALEXANDER, HEMSWORTH FARM

There is growing market pressure to demonstrate that methods of farming and estate management improve biodiversity, energy efficiency, animal welfare, staff wellbeing, soil health, water quality and waste management – the list is endless. 

ESG metrics can be inconsistent and the accompanying greenwash and virtue signalling temper-testing – but the direction of travel is clear. Corporate investors use ESG metrics to evaluate a company’s financial prospects, the inference being that unless a business meets the indicators for sustainability and other criteria then its long-term survival is challenged. A sobering thought for a farm enterprise.

In order to help shape policy outcomes and not allow the agenda to be hijacked by algorithms, farmers need to participate in the green recovery momentum and innovation. Our response at Hemsworth has been to commission a long-term biodiversity study that provides an instructive indicator of environmental conditions. Farming organically means nutrient capture, and recycling is vital. Every initiative we take to improve the ecosystem is interdependent and the most recent game-changer has been the introduction of an extensive dairy enterprise to help drive the farm’s ecological engine.

THE DIVERSIFIED ESTATE OWNER

VICTORIA VYVYAN, TRELOWARREN

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if a computer can generate corporate lorem ipsum that reads like the real thing, and it can, there’s probably a lot of corporate rubbish being talked. Likewise, if ESG turns up what sounds like corporate lorem ipsum… You get my drift, I hope.

Trelowarren is an environmentally and socially responsible small business in a rural and exceptionally beautiful backwater. We built our first carbon-neutral house in 2004, we live in our community and are of our community; we work in Cornwall and represent outside Cornwall for the rural community.

So, let me help with your ESG: on the basis that Trelowarren delivers environmental and social responsibility, the corporate banks that back us should surely value more than the profit-and-loss accounts and the balance sheet. As in New Zealand, they should give better loan rates because we pay an above-average wage and try to employ people through the winter; because we invest in woodlands and biomass; and because we try to establish management plans that tackle climate change. Otherwise, ESG is just a load of corporate lorem ipsum.

THE BANKER

VENETIA HOARE,PARTNER, C. HOARE & CO.

As the 11th generation in a family business which has been trading for nearly 350 years, what is now known as ESG is in my DNA. To be more accountable we are applying for B Corp certification and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030. Our customers have just started receiving eco-friendly credit cards. Fourteen of the UN Sustainable Development Goals have been supported by our Golden Bottle Charitable Trust.

This year we’ve focused on the environment, supporting causes ranging from seagrass and eels to peat bogs and agroecology. We also enable customers’ charitable giving through our Master Charitable Trust.

At home on our small farm in Somerset, we have taken the land back in hand and are encouraging wildflowers under the guidance of Charles Flower. He describes wildflower meadows as “filling stations for nature”, and last summer our valley was full of insects and birds. It’s a welcome antidote to managing ash dieback – a grim reminder of the need to protect our environment. 

THE RURAL PROFESSIONAL

CAROL HAWKEY, HEAD OF RURAL, DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Much has been made of the opportunity for a post-Covid reset – one-dimensional answers given in isolation are unlikely to cut it. We’ve realised healthy individuals thrive in communities; we have a heightened concern for, and appreciation of, a flourishing natural environment; issues of equality and inclusion have raised themselves in diverse ways. A delicate ecosystem, upon which our footprints can land so heavily, can’t be sustained or refreshed without renewed integrity, attention and respect. The health of our soils, water, air, flora and fauna, not to mention our own mental and physical wellbeing, are all holistically linked.

Profit and enduring success don’t need to be sacrificed on a “green altar”; quite the opposite. Frequently, working in harmony can enhance the sustainability of an outcome. We must pursue long-term horizons, encouraging robust financial decisions which are the opposite of a smash-and-grab approach.

We need a symphonic investment vision which incorporates place-making, community engagement, and a commitment to biodiversity and the environment. As we emerge from lockdown, we can be the generation of regenerators! 

THE REGENERATIVE FARMER

DR LISBET RAUSING, INGLEBY FARMS AND FORESTS

To me, regenerative farming sums up the ethos of ESG. It improves soil health, significantly boosting below-ground biodiversity. It turns the soil into a carbon sink. Farmers save money because they need fewer synthetic fertilisers and few if any, pesticides. It is about working with nature, not against it.

Regenerative farmers limit soil disturbance, keeping the soil covered by cover crops and living roots. They use long and complex crop rotations, including intercropping (growing two or even more crops at the same time), and they bring grazing animals back on farms.

Ingleby Farms and Forests works in nine countries. Our management and production teams share best practices between our farms. Ten years ago, we developed our own farm reporting metrics, including production and yields, animal welfare, agro-chemical use, energy and water use, soil health, natural non-farmed areas and social activity.

We now document and measure up to 55 KPIs in our annual Production & Sustainability reports. Our regenerative ambitions and rigorous sustainability benchmarking helps define Ingleby Farms. They uphold our values, and affirm our commitment to continuously become better farmers.