Emily Paciolla, director of sustainability at Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s ESG JumpStart Workshop: 2022 Webinar Series.
Paciolla discussed ways in which companies can target the best place to start on implementing an ESG program, especially if resources are limited. She stressed the need to “answer the why” by identifying the ESG issues that are material to the business and focusing on those priorities.
Buy-in on ESG issues across the organization is extremely important, Paciolla said. “Everybody has to be involved and actively participating to move the needle and implement a successful program.”
And when it comes to determining whether progress is being made on meeting ESG goals, Paciolla stressed that while measuring direct progress with setting metrics and targets is important, “also look at the ripple effects. Sometimes that’s just as impactful if not more impactful than the targets themselves.”