Introducing the Canadian Chapter Projects

By P. Bruce West, Executive Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, The Co-operators Group and member of the Canadian Chapter of the A4S CFO Leadership Network

At The Co-operators, we understand that sustainable business models are not only good for the planet and society, but imperative for the future success of the economy. Sustainability ensures we have the financial strength to continue meeting our clients' needs by identifying, preventing, mitigating and adapting to new risks, and recognising new opportunities that arise from sustainability challenges.

As a cooperative our business decisions need to balance profitability with the needs of our members and their communities. In today's global economy, environmental, social and economic challenges are ever evolving and I believe we can only address these systemic, shared challenges if we work together. Through collaboration we can develop practical approaches and examples, which will help organizations make tangible contributions to their purpose and profitability as well as the wider economy, environment and society.

I'm therefore delighted to be participating in the first three projects being undertaken by the Canadian Chapter of A4S's CFO Leadership Network, aimed at inspiring action and transforming financial decision making.

Three projects were unveiled at a Chapter event in Toronto in June:

• Managing the future today: ways to develop a strategic response to the risks and opportunities posed by major social and environmental trends.
• Social and human capital accounting: building on the guidance produced by our colleagues in the European Chapter of the A4S CFO Leadership Network - case studies and examples will set out benefits and challenges of different approaches, lessons learned and tips and tools for finance professionals.
• Incentivizing action: the role of the finance team in encouraging suppliers, customers, investee organizations and others along the value chain to take action on sustainability.

The Co-operators will be working with organizations from across multiple sectors to share our knowledge and expertise, to learn from peers in Canada and Europe and develop tools and guidance to support finance professionals both within our organization and around the globe.

Through the development and implementation of the outputs of these projects, the finance community can ensure that our products and services bring value to our stakeholders and meet the needs of our members in a way that is sustainable and resilient.

You can find out more about these projects as they progress on the A4S website.