COVID-19 could be dire for working women; Duke Energy CEO talks climate, race

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21 Oct, 2020

Author Lindsey White
Theme Macroeconomics

The ESG Insider newsletter compiles news and insights on environmental, social and governance developments driving change in business and investment decisions. Subscribe to our ESG Insider newsletter, and listen to the latest ESG Insider podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify or Apple podcasts.

"It's going to be a disaster."

That's what Natasha Lamb, managing partner at sustainable investment firm Arjuna Capital LLC, told ESG Insider when asked how the pandemic will impact women in the workforce. Lamb talked to us as part of a research report that S&P Global published this week in partnership with AARP about how family leave policies are evolving in the U.S. private sector. The research found that employees are spending much more time on family care duties now than prior to the pandemic; employees also report a marked increase in their stress levels.

As the investor community puts increasing emphasis on sustainability issues in general and treatment of employees in particular, corporate America is responding in real time with creative solutions and new policies. As Corporate Vice President of Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure at Microsoft Rani Borkar told us in the latest episode of the ESG Insider podcast: "The only certainty now is we need to be flexible."

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Podcast: How COVID-19 is forcing big changes for parents, family caregivers

For employees worldwide, the coronavirus crisis is causing a clash of professional and personal responsibilities, and it presents an urgent question for companies that want to retain their talent: How do you create policies that allow employees to balance career and family — both during a pandemic and beyond? The latest episode of the ESG Insider podcast unpacks research into how U.S. leave policies are evolving in the private sector. We also hear from women executives who are on the ground balancing childcare, virtual schooling and elder care alongside demanding careers during COVID-19.

ESG Insider: A Podcast by S&P Global · How COVID-19 is forcing big changes for parents, family caregivers

Lynn Good, Duke Energy CEO, president and chair, talks about the company's new strategies at Duke's first ESG investor day on Oct. 9.
Source: Duke Energy livestream event

Duke CEO says environmental justice key to clean energy transformation

Duke Energy Corp. President, CEO and board Chair Lynn Good gave an exclusive interview just hours after the electric utility company held its first ESG investor day earlier this month. At the event, Good announced that Duke is developing principles for environmental justice.

"Just as you have guiding principles around carbon reduction or how you might approach diversity and inclusion or things like this, environmental justice is a bit under development," Good told S&P Global Market Intelligence. "[W]e're trying to develop some guiding principles that we could use as a playbook or an outreach method that would allow us to have those conversations early, before we begin doing any investment or construction of significance."

Jane Fraser is joining a very small club

When Citigroup Inc. named Jane Fraser its next CEO, she became the first woman ever appointed to run one of the Big Four U.S. banks — a group that includes peers JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., all with over $1 trillion in assets. Fraser will also become the 15th member of a small club that is growing slowly: women CEOs of billion-dollar banks. In a year when investors are highly focused on gender and race diversity, observers expect that more C-suite appointments of women and minorities will follow.

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