Sydney Airport is among those companies seeking to encourage good conduct in its sphere of influence. Its head of sustainability, Penny Barker, reveals: “We have a supplier code of conduct in place and we ask our suppliers to align with minimum expectations on ESG matters. These expectations align with the standards we set ourselves. We know our business partners have corporate-citizen commitments too and we look to partner with them to drive mutually beneficial outcomes.”

AGL Energy (AGL) has a similar code of conduct in place, covering factors as diverse as environmental standards, safety and employee policies on diversity, labour conditions and LGBTI considerations. “It makes sure we’re selective about who we do business with, because we want to ensure we’re aligned on these core values,” says AGL’s group treasurer, Bláthnaid Byrne.

The company applies a similar code of conduct in its funding chain, too. The motivation was no different – AGL’s banks are suppliers in the finance realm and the company wants to be aligned with lenders that share its core values.

“We have to be realistic, because as the borrower we can’t just say no to everyone,” Byrne acknowledges. “But we want to be able to ask lenders where they stand on issues that matter to us and to plot how they all stack up against our policies. It also starts the conversation with those banks that are not where we would like them to be.”

In fact, Byrne credits the banking community for – in general – making “significant changes and commitments” in recent years. “They’ve clearly demonstrated leadership and the commitment they’re making from a time and energy perspective in sustainability reporting,” she says.

Peter Menegazzo, executive director and chief investment officer at Investa Property Group (Investa), says the company is seeing a lot of movement on ESG engagement among its client base, especially at the big end of town. “I think corporate conscience has grown over the last 10-15 years,” he tells KangaNews. “Bigger tenants tend to be better resourced in this space while some smaller tenants don’t really get the benefits as yet. There are obviously environmental benefits, but the way we sell ESG to our clients is as much on the financial benefits. There’s a lot of money to be saved by just doing the right things up front.”

This illustrates another trend among Australasian companies: trying to encourage good corporate behaviour, including in the capital-markets realm, by discussion and engagement with clients and peers.

For instance, Louise Tong, head of capital markets and tax at Contact Energy (Contact), says a number of other companies have shown interest in the green debt programme Contact signed in August 2017.

“I have had other borrowers coming to me since we announced the programme asking for more information about the ‘how’ and the ‘why’,” Tong says. “We are the first New Zealand company to have certified green debt, so awareness and understanding of what’s involved is pretty limited. But people are curious to learn more.”

Investa has been an active promoter of its green-bond experiences with its peer group according to Nina James, the company’s general manager, corporate sustainability. The company has shared its insights into the relative ease of the process, advocating adoption of the asset class even to competitors.

Peer-group leadership goes further even than this, though. “I think our group takes very seriously that we are a leader and that there are opportunities for us to have a bigger impact than just our own operations,” James tells KangaNews. “When we were setting our carbon-neutral target we challenged the business and the executive to take on the idea that this is what leadership looks like, and that it means going beyond your own home patch.”