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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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Today’s newsletter focuses on the Australian companies that are supporting recognition of Indigenous people and advancing opportunities for them. In contrast, companies in the United States are facing pressure to ditch affirmative action, undermining efforts to boost diversity as a conservative legal group threatens more lawsuits unless businesses comply.

Top Australian companies that backed constitutional recognition of Indigenous people said they respected voters’ rejection of the change but would now take their own steps to try to improve opportunities for the country’s first inhabitants.

At an Oct. 14 referendum, Australians overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to create a constitutionally-protected Indigenous parliamentary advisory body, known as the Voice.

The Voice, which was to provide non-binding advice to parliament on Indigenous matters, was requested by Indigenous elders in 2017 as a way to bridge divisions within the Australian population.

Financial support and publicity from big business for the referendum failed against a far less well-resourced “No” campaign, which branded corporate endorsement of the change as elitist and out of touch.

People queue to cast their votes outside the voting centre during The Voice referendum at Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. AAP Image/Lukas Coch via REUTERS

Without a political solution, it is now up to the companies themselves to pursue strategies to address entrenched disadvantages in Australia’s 3.8% Indigenous population, corporate leaders and political researchers said.

“While the country resolved not to amend our constitution, there’s never been more awareness of the significant challenges facing many Indigenous people,” said Rob Scott, CEO of Wesfarmers, which owns the Australian Kmart and Target department store chains plus hardware chain Bunnings.

Wesfarmers, which counts about 3% of its 120,000 employees as Indigenous and gave money to the “Yes” campaign, already ran programmes to educate, recruit and promote Indigenous people and develop Indigenous businesses. “We must seize on this momentum”, added Scott.

Airline Qantas, which emblazoned “Yes23” on three of its aircraft to support the change, said it would focus on practical measures like using First Nations suppliers and offering employment and scholarships to Indigenous people.

Australia’s biggest public company, miner BHP, which had campaigned for a Voice to parliament for four years before the referendum, would “continue to engage with traditional owners and Indigenous partners, employees and organizations to understand their priorities”, said Geraldine Slattery, the company’s Australia president.

Reconciliation with the Indigenous population remains largely unresolved in Australia which, unlike New Zealand, Canada and the United States, never signed a treaty with its first inhabitants after European arrival.

Over in the United States, an anti-affirmative action group whose lawsuits pushed two major law firms to alter fellowships they offered law students to boost diversity in their ranks, said it was considering suing three more firms unless they did the same.

A group founded by Edward Blum, a conservative strategist behind the U.S. Supreme Court challenge to race-conscious college admissions policies, in letters said it was considering similar legal action against Winston & Strawn, Hunton Andrews Kurth, and Adams and Reese and asked whether they planned to change their programs.

New Orleans-based Adams and Reese told Blum’s group in a letter that it would not proceed in 2024 with its Adams and Reese 1L Minority Fellowship, a summer-associate program that was open to first-year law students who were “members of racial and ethnic minority groups and other disadvantaged groups.”

Winston, Hunton and Adams and Reese did not respond to requests for comment.

Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights group said each firm had fellowship programs that it viewed as “racially exclusive” in violation of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a Civil War-era law that bars racial bias in contracting.

Reuters’ journalist Issam Abdallah holds a kitten while posing for a picture in Saaideh, Lebanon. REUTERS/Emilie Madi

Sujata Kukreja, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Netherlands-based software firm, Expereo, shares her thoughts on environment, social and governance (ESG) priorities for senior leaders from large and mid-sized enterprises: 

“We heard from over 650 global chief information officers (CIOs) in our report, that ESG and climate change are top concerns influencing their organizations’ technology investments today, and here’s why. 

“Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions tracking and reporting are long-term commitments. The process will only become more important as regulations become more stringent and more consumers want to do business with companies that align with their values. 

“Additionally, social and corporate responsibility initiatives such as diversity and inclusion, improving labor policies, data privacy and participating in fair trade are also rising on corporate agendas.  

“Prioritizing ESG initiatives is also critical in attracting and retaining talent, especially with the way work is evolving – 41% of CIOs report that existing workers and new hires expect to work from home. 

“Organizations can create an appealing work environment that cooperates with these changing expectations. For example, today’s workers are taking roles and staying in positions at companies whose values they identify with, even if that means turning down a higher paying role at a different company. 

“In fact, 36% of CIOs reported facing challenges with candidates’ salary and benefits expectations. 

“To remain competitive, companies must embrace modern work environments like hybrid office models, and offer benefits where employees are actively involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives. Professionals who work for companies with strong ESG commitments tend to be more loyal to their employer – which ultimately boosts workplace morale, productivity and profit.”

Ford executive chairman Bill Ford urged the United Auto Workers union to end a 32-day strike and reach a new labor agreement on Monday , warning of the growing impact to the automaker and the broader economy.

More than 34,000 union members working at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis are out on strike and Ford has furloughed 2,480 other workers, citing impacts of the strike.

A satellite image shows the Himalayan Glacial Lake before bursting its banks and triggering flash floods, in South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim, India. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Today’s ESG Spotlight highlights proactive disaster preparedness and environmental sustainability as India installs an early warning system for high-risk glacial lakes in the Himalayas while Spanish fashion retailer, Inditex, has partnered with the freight group Maersk to transition to alternative fuels for all its inbound routes.

India aims to install the first part of an early warning system at some high-risk glacial lakes in the Himalayas next year, a senior official said, as the country responds to deadly floods this month that killed at least 60 people.

There are 56 at-risk glacial lakes in India and the urgency to monitor them was stepped up after Lhonak Lake in the eastern Himalayas burst its banks two weeks ago and caused widespread damage in Sikkim, a small mountainous state wedged between China, Nepal and Bhutan.

Reuters was first to report that India was working on a pilot project with Swiss experts to set up the country’s first early warning systems at Lhonak Lake, and also at nearby Shako Cho lake. If the systems had been installed, they could have given 90 minutes warning before floods engulfed homes and structures.

Maersk’s first methanol-enabled container vessel is pictured in this handout image obtained by Reuters. Maersk/Handout via REUTERS 

Elsewhere, the world’s biggest fashion retailer, Inditex, has agreed with the freight group Maersk to incorporate alternative fuels on all its inbound routes with the carrier as a way to reduce its global greenhouse gas footprint.

The Zara owner is one of Maersk’s first customers to assign 100% of its ocean inbound cargo to its Eco Delivery Ocean service, which allows for a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions thanks to green fuels, Maersk managing director for southwest Europe, Emilio de la Cruz, said in a statement.

“Diligent and Spencer Stuart surveyed 1,000 board directors globally on how they are currently approaching ESG. The report found that directors in Europe are more optimistic about ESG, with 56% viewing it as an opportunity — meanwhile, 34% of U.S. directors see ESG as a risk.”

Lisa Edwards, executive chair of Diligent Institute,

a U.S.-based software company

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content.

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