6. The Evolving Risk Management Opportunity and Thinking Sustainability First

Risk management is evolving as a field, and one of the driving forces to the changes taking place is the growing importance of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) issues and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Opportunities in various forms are surfacing as actions to plans and strategies to mitigate the ESG risks are being formulated. There are many influencing factors on the evolution of risk management pertaining to sustainability, including the clarification of fiduciary duty, the changing roles for decision-makers on capital investments, the urgency on certain thematic issues, the creation of task forces, the development of taxonomies, the frameworks to establish materiality, the setting of goals and targets, and the progressive education and training. This mixture of factors is the new ecosystem, which is emerging in the corporate and investment sectors and includes the participation of governments and nongovernment organizations. The bottom line is that educators need to prepare the training of our current and next generation of decision-makers in this evolving trend in which sustainability will take priority.