Lord Mayor's Coffee Colloquy On UN SDG10 & Employee Share Ownership
Tuesday, 13 February 2024On Tuesday, 13 February, more than 80 people joined the Esop Centre and City of London representatives in Mansion House for a Coffee Colloquy, part of a series of workshops on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Organised by the Centre, the colloquy addressed Goal 10: Reduced inequality within and among countries. Our panel of nine experts considered how inequality might be addressed by raising productivity helped by the use of employee share ownership. Factors that contribute to this include ground-up volunteer-led initiatives, and the practical steps individuals can take to contribute to closing the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’
The Centre was represented on the panel by members Damian Carnell (Corpgro), David Craddock (David Craddock Consultancy Services), and Ifty Nasir (Vestd). External speakers were James Ashton, Quoted Companies Alliance; Dr Jansev Jemal, Pro Bono Economics; Erik Johnson, Inclusion@Lloyd’s; Sasha Molodtsov, BDO & Diversity Project; Dr Andy Sloan, International Sustainability Institute; and Lorraine Young, The Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
Each made a four-minute speech, kick-starting the conversation through the Q&A and networking session that followed. Topics discussed were: The role of employee share ownership in meeting SDG 10; Equity participation-across the team, and across borders; Why public companies care about employee share ownership; International share plans – sharing wealth across the world; a Global sovereign debt equity swap programme; Reducing inequalities in the financial sector: challenges, progress and 2030 horizon scanning; Connecting to drive inclusive prosperity; Diversity of the workforce in the charity sector; and Making Piketty proud: a proposal to exploit the trend for sustainability metrics to widen the practice of Esops. Follow the link to view a recording of their talks.
Malcolm Hurlston, president, said of the Centre’s contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals debate:
“It was five years ago when the Centre was the first to spot the relevance of Esops to attaining the United Nations Development goals, goal no 10 in particular. We highlighted it when we were invited to give a presentation in Brussels at a colloquy hosted by the European Trades Union Confederation on January 24 2019.
“Our plan was supported by a paper which Deloitte wrote jointly for Business in the Community. We explained that employee financial participation could help to achieve in particular SDG 10 - with its aim to reduce inequalities of wealth both nationally and internationally.
“Many of our international members rewarded equally round the world which made a big difference in small countries with weak currencies. I suggested an SDG working party - ideally led by Deloitte with Linklaters and CMS. The overall picture was that MNCs and business generally saw the advantages at the time of being engaged but were not quite sure how.
“We highlighted the opportunity, which has since been followed through by members. In particular I asked David Craddock to write a paper for us.”
"A power-packed event on employee share ownership. There was good fertility of ideas, diversity of contribution around support for the main themes, some good original thinking viewpoints expressed from the podium and interesting inquisitive questioning from the audience. Really good organisation, a fascinating venue, and great spirit and energy within the room throughout.”
"It was a morning very well spent with good interaction from the audience.”
"A great event, smoothly presented with a good mix of topics and highly engaged conversations. I feel sure some of these aspects will flow into actionable and impactful action in the future. And so a helpful step in the right direction I would say.”
