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Advancing the ‘S’ in ESG: How Vietnamese companies can link social performance with competitiveness 

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06 Jun, 2025

This post was originally published on WBCSD

In Hanoi on 10 April 2025, a clear message emerged from the high-level seminar “Advancing the ‘S’ in ESG”: that inequality undermines business performance, and addressing it can build resilience, maintain and increase market access, and reduce the cost of capital.

Hosted by UNDP in partnership with the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) and with support from the Government of Sweden, the event brought together business leaders, policymakers, and international experts to spotlight corporate approaches to the social dimension of ESG. This issue gaining focus due to greater scrutiny from export markets such as the European Union and Japan.

The session also marked the launch of the Vietnamese translation of “Advancing the ‘S’ in ESG,” a primer developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in collaboration with Shift. Designed for CFOs in Vietnam, the guide helps business leaders understand, navigate, and plan for social and nature-related impacts across their operations, including effects on the workforce, value chain, affected communities and end-users.

Inequality: A Systemic Business Risk

Beginning his session with a timely provocation, Joe Phelan, Executive Director, Asia Pacific, at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), warned that inequality is now a systemic business risk.

Inequality poses a structural threat, not just to supply chains and business operations, but to investment portfolios and societal stability,” he said. “Managing a company’s corporate performance is now on the CFO agenda.

Joe’s remarks underscored a growing consensus: businesses that fail to integrate social considerations into their core strategies risk being left behind in an era where expectations are rising, across consumers, investors, and regulators alike.

He urged businesses in Vietnam to move beyond tick-box approaches and embed social impact into decision-making and value chains. This, he noted, will require stronger collaboration across sectors, better policy coherence, and investment in tools that allow companies, especially SMEs, to track, disclose and improve their social performance and accountability.

Social Performance as a Growth Driver

The event made clear that social sustainability is not merely a defensive play. It is a growth strategy.

H.E. Johan Ndisi, Ambassador of Sweden to Vietnam, set the tone in his remarks, framing responsible business conduct as a prerequisite for accessing and thriving in sustainability-conscious markets. “For economies like Vietnam, advancing the social dimension of ESG offers a strategic opening, one that can lead to fairer workplaces, stronger supply chains, and more sustainable trade partnerships,” he said.

Emphasising the central role of stakeholder engagement in shaping long-term business resilience, Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Vietnam Resident Representative, shared that “Companies that integrate human rights and environmental due diligence into their strategy aren’t just compliant, they’re future proof.” Her remarks echoed the consensus that stakeholder dialogue acts as a catalyst for growth.

That strategic framing was reinforced by Kassidy Huang of the World Benchmarking Alliance, who shared fresh data linking strong social practices to stronger financial performance. Companies leading on human rights and decent work consistently outperform on revenue and job creation, she noted. But Vietnamese firms must act fast. “Even if you’re not directly affected by EU rules like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, your buyers are,” she said. “Those expectations will cascade.”

From Ideas to Action

Throughout the morning, a diverse set of voices, from corporates to community organisations, offered real-world examples of embedding social performance into business models. Discussions highlighted several enablers for scaling impact: stronger alignment between policy and practice, greater support for small and medium enterprises, and new financing models such as Orange Bonds, which unlock capital for gender and social equity initiatives.

As global ESG expectations continue to evolve, and the impacts of climate change, nature loss and rising inequality are being felt, businesses in Vietnam are at a crossroads. The path forward demands not just environmental ambition, but social innovation. The choice is clear: embrace the “S” in ESG as a business opportunity, one that builds resilience, earns trust, and drives inclusive growth.

As Joe Phelan put it, “This is not about charity. It’s about charting a course for a fairer, more stable, and ultimately more profitable future. The time to act is now.” “By strengthening performance management, companies can drive transformation through value chains, and get better information to the capital markets, so that finance flows to the companies that lead on sustainability performance.”

The post Advancing the ‘S’ in ESG: How Vietnamese companies can link social performance with competitiveness  first appeared on WBCSD.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

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ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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