Résultat 1 ressource
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Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have gained prominence in recent years. Companies have come to understand their role in the global economy and that their decisions cannot be based solely on profits. They are now required to have regard for the environment in which they operate, to be mindful of the social factors that affect their employees, customers and the community at large, and to ensure that their corporate governance complies with the standards set out in the Companies Act 71 of 2008 and the various King Reports. While ESG has become a buzz word in the corporate world, there is still much uncertainty among stakeholders about what they are required to do and what the reporting requirements, if any, are. Its implementation in South Africa is still in its infancy and there is much uncertainty about what ESG monitoring and compliance truly entail. A perfect illustration of this is the fact that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) only published ESG disclosure guidelines for the first time in 2022. This means that until the guidelines were published, hundreds of companies in South Africa had been wondering aimlessly in the dark when it comes to ESG issues. To make matters worse, while environmental issues and corporate governance issues have received significant attention from scholars and legislators in South Africa alike, the "S" in ESG has received little attention. It is often treated as the undesirable stepchild that everyone conveniently forgets is part of the ESG family. The purpose of this study is to highlight the gaps in the existing ESG regulatory framework, which leads to gaps in the understanding and monitoring of the implementation of the social indicators of ESG. The study aims to firstly determine whether companies in South Africa have a proper understanding of the social framework of ESG and whether the current legal and/or regulatory framework in South Africa offers sufficient guidance to n organisations to ensure that they comply with and fully implement the social guidelines of the ESG framework.