June 16, 2021 • 39 mins
In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Márcia Balisciano, global head of corporate responsibility at RELX. Márcia joined RELX 18 years ago to establish a ‘global community programme’ which the then CEO thought would be a two-year gig. At the time, terms like ‘ESG’ (Environmental, Social and Governance) or ‘CR’ (Corporate Responsibility) hadn’t yet made it into the global conversation. 18 years later, RELX scores consistently at the top of ESG rankings.
Márcia talks about the journey that has made this possible and explains what it means in practice to be a business that sees no trade-off between profitability and responsibility. We hear about her pioneering bottom-up approach to corporate responsibility, how RELX articulated its ‘Unique Contributions’, and about the free RELX SDG Resource Centre. But the work is never done and Márcia is now focused on the next challenge: meeting stringent carbon reduction targets.
This podcast is brought to you by RELX.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
YS Chi (00:00):
The Unique Contributions podcast is brought to you by
RELX. Find out more about us byvisiting RELX.com.
Mrcia Balisciano (00:10):
When they were looking at a company to
join, the corporateresponsibility performance of
RELX and the importance that weplace on this was one of the
factors that led them to thebusiness. That definitely makes
me feel happy.
YS Chi (00:40):
Hello and welcome to our second series of unique
contributions, a RELX podcastwhere we bring you closer to
some of the most interestingpeople from around our business.
I'm YS Chi and I'll be exploringwith my guests some of the big
issues that matter to society,how they're making a difference,
and what brought them to wherethey are today. My guest today
(01:02):
is Marcia Balisciano, who is thefounding global head of
corporate responsibility atRELX, and also the chair of the
United Nations Global Compactnetwork UK. In the last few
years, corporate responsibilityhas climbed up the agenda and is
now top of mind forstakeholders. The pandemic has
accelerated the trend and thebusiness case for stakeholder
(01:23):
capitalism is clear. Sustainablebusinesses are those that will
be there for the long term. AtRELX, we have understood this
for a long time, largely thanksto Marcia who has been at the
company for the incredible 18years. RELX is one of the most
sustainable business in theworld and scores consistently at
(01:43):
the top of ESG rankings. But thework is never done. I'll be
asking Marcia about the journeythat has placed corporate
responsibility at the heart ofRELX's business strategy, what
her challenges are, and mostimportantly, how she ensures
that we walk the talk. Mrcia,thank you for joining the
podcast, great having you here.
I know you've been around mostlyaround London. How has it been
(02:07):
like trying to run the corporateresponsibility team from home
while also looking after yourtwo young boys?
Marcia Balisciano (02:15):
Well, it has definitely been an interesting
time, in such a year or so ofchallenge, for so many people
around the world. And it'sdefinitely been an exercise in
learning how to juggle thingswell, while trying to work and
for a number of months over thelast year and a bit, homeschool
(02:37):
at the same time.
YS Chi (02:39):
Well, from what I've been able to watch from afar,
you've done a great job. Let'sget to your personal story first
Marcia. You've had a veryinteresting youth from what I
know. You grew up in Salem,Massachusetts, and then you
started moving all over theworld. And somehow you moved and
ended up in Japan, tell us?
Marcia Balisciano (03:00):
Well my mother, was an amazing woman,
decided that Salem would be avery interesting place full of
history, to raise her youngfamily. And I just fell in love
with the history. After having apaper route or paper round, as
(03:22):
they say in England, I became atour guide in Salem. So it was
absolutely fascinating to beimmersed in the history of that
place. I was a very avid readerand I loved learning about
different cultures. When I foundmyself in university, I once saw
a poster for a trip calledSemester at Sea, which was the
(03:46):
opportunity to learn and goaround the world. My ship was a
1950's container ship and ourfirst port was going to be
Japan. We were visiting 12countries and I had a very
unusual situation, in that itwas a bit expensive and they
took about 15 students as workstudy. So I was very fortunate
(04:10):
in being very persistent andasking for one of those places
and I got it. So I was able towork alongside a Taiwanese crew,
it wasn't too difficult. Iworked mostly in the library and
duty desk in various ports. Butour first place that we'd be
arriving to was Japan and I hada great interest in visiting
(04:32):
Europe. I thought, oh well, Ihope I'll be able to see a lot
more of the world. It wasn'treally that high up on my list.
But when I ventured off theship, I was totally captivated
and decided that after I hadtaken this amazing journey that
I wanted to go back. I ended upspending the better part of a
year, continuing my studies inJapan as part of my
(04:55):
undergraduate training.
YS Chi (04:56):
Wow. And from that, where else did you end up going?
And then how did you end up inLondon and then eventually at
RELX?
Marcia Balisciano (05:07):
I just had a passion for all things
international. When I finishedmy studies in Japan, I finished
my undergraduate degree andbegan thinking about what was
next. I wanted to get someexperience and I actually moved
to Chicago because theUniversity of Chicago was in my
(05:27):
sights. They have a veryinteresting interdisciplinary
programme in internationalrelations. But I needed to get
some work experience first, andI saw that there was an
organisation called the JapanAmerica Society. I called them
up and I said, oh, do you haveany recommendations because I've
had some period of time in Japanand I would like to find some
(05:51):
interesting work. They said no,they didn't have any. So I hung
up and then I called them backand I said, could you use a
volunteer? They said that theycould use, and that's how I
began...
YS Chi (06:04):
Always a free labourer, huh?
Marcia Balisciano (06:06):
Yes. But there was a barter agreement
because I said, if I volunteer,what I want to do is put an ad
about myself in your newsletter.
Somebody saw that ad, who waslooking for a wood products
company to develop an exportprogramme in Japan. That's how I
ended up working for a shorttime in wood, to understand what
(06:29):
it would be like to develop anexport programme. So it was a
great opportunity for a youngperson and I eventually did go
to the University of Chicago anddo degree, a master's degree in
International Relations and thatwas really great. When I
(06:50):
finished, I thought, well, I'mgoing to continue my trajectory
because my studies were aboutJapanese political economy, kind
of the intersection between theeconomy and politics. How I
could correlate that into workthat was focused on Asia, but
actually, the job that I foundwas needing someone in Latin
(07:11):
America. So I was based inChicago, but looking at markets
in the fashion industry for aChicago manufacturer and who had
licence agreements. So again, itwas a brief stint, because I've
spent most of my career at RELX.
But it was very eye opening andI got to see that part of the
(07:33):
world. I knew that I wanted togo back and do a PhD as an
exercise and thinking. Ithought, well, I have a
background in Asia, and maybethis experience that I've been
having in America, I'll proposea comparative topic. So I was
very interested in the LondonSchool of Economics, which has a
(07:56):
great programme and economichistory. I remember writing to
them and saying, why I was anice person and they should let
me in. This research tutor wroteme back and said, that's all
well and good, but we need atestable hypothesis, methodology
and sources. So I put togethersomething looking at the
(08:16):
economic development, andparticularly planning in Japan
and Argentina, which both hadplanning boards in the early
20th century, and why one seemedto do better than the other. The
research tutor wrote to me backand said, well, we have serious
doubts about your topic, butwe're going to let you in. That
was fine, because I had seriousdoubts about my topic too. In
(08:39):
the end, I ended up doingsomething on the US experience
with economic planning, butthat's what brought me to
London.
YS Chi (08:45):
Wow. We're glad it brought you to London because
you found RELX. And you are the,founder having spent 18 years
really starting the work aroundcorporate responsibility, and
put us at the top of the leaguetables on ESG. How has corporate
(09:06):
responsibility developed? Howhas it grown over the better
part of the last two decades?
Marcia Balisciano (09:12):
I think when I started there was more of a
use of the term corporate socialresponsibility. There was a
burgeoning interest when Istarted at RELX. I was hired by
our then CEO Crispin Davis, whowas interested in developing a
global community programme, butI could see just months into the
(09:34):
job that there were questionsbeing asked of us that we didn't
necessarily know the answer to.
How are we avoiding child labourin our supply chain? How were we
ensuring that we were procuringpaper that was used in our
supply chain, making sure thatit was from known and legal
sources? We didn't really have agood sense of what that was all
(09:58):
about. So I raised my hand andsaid, I think this is all part
of how we look at the extrafinancial performance of the
company. But there was a muchstronger emphasis on the S of
the social, but linked tophilanthropy at that point when
I started. But just over time,these issues have grown in terms
(10:23):
of the importance. I think alsorelative to an awareness of the
climate crisis as being one ofthe most important issues of our
time. The need for businessalong with other stakeholders to
address this, which has helpedto move this agenda forward from
something that sometimesbusinesses were criticised, was
(10:48):
this a bolt on activity to beingsomething that's really integral
to how we're assessing our risksand opportunities.
YS Chi (10:57):
Yeah, so it went from social to just general corporate
responsibility, now to ESG.
Which is in the forefront ofeverybody's mind?
Marcia Balisciano (11:08):
Yes, all our stakeholders matter. I think we
have been very clear right fromthe beginning of our focus on
risk corporate responsibility,that there is not a trade off
between our differentstakeholders. We need to be
responsive to our investors, weneed to be a profitable
(11:29):
business, we also need to havethe right people and to make
sure that we are treating ourpeople well. So they stay, that
they decide to develop theircareers RELX, as well as being
responsive to government andtheir expectations, NGOs, etc.
But the investment communitybegan looking at socially
(11:53):
responsible funds, and sociallyresponsible investment. And that
really wasn't always core to thebusiness of the investors. But
over time, seeing how integralthese issues are to the
financial health of a company,they rose higher in how they
(12:16):
were assessing companies. Sotoday, ESG, as you say, is very
prominent. So the E stands forenvironment, the S for social in
the widest sense of that term,and the G for governance. And it
has become something moremainstream in the conversations
that we have with our investors.
I work very closely with ourexcellent investor relations
(12:36):
team, to talk with them aboutthe questions that they have in
what are those specific risksthat we face? And how are we
working to minimise those, forexample, on an environmental
basis. And what are the longterm opportunities? How are we
working to maximise those?
YS Chi (12:56):
Right, and the prominence is getting from all
segments, from governments, frominvestors, companies,
individuals and employees,future employees as well. And
because we've been doing thisthing for long term, it's good
thing for RELX. But there issomething different about our
approach to corporateresponsibility that has driven
(13:20):
the success so far, and has thisincredible momentum. It is also
the title of our podcast, theconcept of unique contributions.
Marcia, please tell our audienceabout how that really drives a
different kind of energy to whatyou do with your team.
Marcia Balisciano (13:42):
Well, I have to say I credit you YS as head
of corporate affairs, our CEOErik Engstrm, for really
encouraging us to think throughwhat is different about the work
that we do and the impact thatwe have on society, and to
articulate our uniquecontributions. So we are
(14:05):
constantly thinking about theseissues. The overarching one is
universal sustainable access toinformation, which is a common
denominator across our fourbusiness areas. Then the others
really map to the expertise andthe contributions that those
businesses make. Elsevier isvery much focused on advancing
(14:30):
science, improving healthoutcomes. LexisNexis Risk
Solutions has expertise infighting fraud and crime, but
also reducing inequalities. Iknow something that I'd like to
talk about during ourconversation today, around
reducing the gap on financialinclusion that is experienced,
(14:54):
that our colleagues have at ourLexisNexis Risk Solutions Group.
But it's also about furtheringthe rule of law and access to
justice at LexisNexis, Legal &Professional. In terms of the
work that we do to improve thejudges decisions that they may
make through the legalinformation that we can provide,
(15:17):
to help judges and lawyers bemore effective. And just to
ensure that we are promoting therule of law everywhere around
the world, as a foundation forhow business and society is
conducted. But then we also havefostering communities, which
really map so well to ReedExhibitions, which is one of the
(15:38):
world's largest eventsbusinesses. In terms of how we
bring different communitiestogether, both buyers and
sellers that improve theefficiency of those markets, and
also have an impact within thesectors that are represented by
those shows.
YS Chi (15:58):
Right, and you mentioned earlier about how RELX does not
see any trade off between beingprofitable and being a
responsible business. So itsounds to me like unique
contribution goes to the heartof what we do daily anyway,
whether it's scienceinformation, health information,
(16:20):
fraud or crime prevention, andso on. So it's the stuff that we
do daily. It's just that weorient them toward multiple use.
Is that a good way of lookingat?
Marcia Balisciano (16:31):
Yeah, I think so. That's when we talk about
the positive impact that we havethrough conducting our business,
that is definitely at theessence of it. It's ingrained
in, as you say, what we do everyday. But we also think about how
we minimise the risks of what wedo. So at LexisNexis Risk
(16:56):
Solutions Group, thinking aboutdata privacy and security,
ensuring that we have thehighest levels of data privacy
and security, given how integraldata is to that business. Or, as
we think about access issuesthrough Elsevier, through
Research4Life, for example,which is a programme that we
(17:18):
have been a founding partner of,providing access to our content
in 2020. There were over amillion downloads of content
through Elsevier's amazingScienceDirect database, which
can help researchers indifferent parts of the world
that would not necessarily beable to access that content
(17:39):
otherwise. To be able to haveit, to inform the knowledge that
they're progressing. Somaximising these things, but
also looking at addressing anyrisks that we face in conducting
our business is the oppositeside of the equation.
YS Chi (18:06):
As you said, we're gonna touch on financial inclusion in
a minute. But one of the thingsthat is truly remarkable about
your leadership, has been howyou can continue to anticipate
and go along and lead the newfocus that the society is
(18:26):
placing on corporations. So oneof those examples is the SDG
Resource Centre. I would verymuch like you to tell us a
little bit about how that cameabout and what it's doing,
please.
Marcia Balisciano (18:38):
Yeah, absolutely. Working with our
colleagues at Elsevier in 2014,in the run up to 2015 when the
SDGs were adopted, we thoughtthere's content that we have
that can inform knowledge onthis agenda. We didn't even know
(18:59):
all of the 17 SDGs at thatpoint, but we knew it was a
focus on people and the planet.
We produced this piece ofresearch called sustainability
science in a global researchlandscape. On the very day that
all the nations of the UnitedNations adopted the SDGs
unanimously, we were at One UNPlaza, just across the street,
(19:21):
when we presented the findingsof that research. We asked
Richard Horton, editor of TheLancet to provide the highlights
of that research. There were anumber of us sitting in the
audience thinking, this isreally fantastic, and we need to
keep going because it's a 15year agenda, which concludes in
2030. Very much focused onraising the bar around the world
(19:48):
in issues that affect bothdeveloped nations but also some
of the least developed nationsthe hardest. In terms of
avoiding poverty, focusing ongender equality or quality
education or life on land, lifebelow water, etc. So we thought
(20:08):
long and hard about what wecould do, and out of that came
in 2017, the RELX SDG ResourceCentre. It is a free resource
for the world, it is availableat sdgresources.relx.com. There
are over 1500 content sourcesfrom across our business. All
(20:34):
four of our business areas havecontributed content and continue
to. Our content actually grewbetween 2019 and 20, by over
50%, and our number of usersgrew by about 80%. So we had
nearly 90,000 unique users ofthe site last year, but we
really want to grow that becausethis content is just so good.
(20:56):
For example, you can see the 17SDGs, you can click in and get
some of the best knowledge inthe world on the those SDGs. Our
colleagues at LexisNexis on thehomepage, built for us an SDG
news tracker. Where you can getup to the minute news on the
(21:18):
SDGs in all the UN languagesincluding German. You can also
find original research. So wedid a big project working with
Elsevier's Scopus, a citationsdatabase and also SciVal, this
great analytical tool that canrun over the top of Scopus to
pull out these SDG graphics. Onwhat is the state of knowledge
(21:42):
today underpinning the SDGs, andthe findings were incredible.
You can see each individualgraphic on the site. You can
also see a free report where wepackage it together, ran some
overlays looking at gender, forexample, and the SDGs. It's
called the power of data toadvance the SDGs. It's really
(22:05):
fascinating because of 4 millionpublications that were produced
over a five year period up to2019, you can see that less than
2% of the output are from lowincome countries. So that really
points to the fact that wereally need to be doing more to
(22:28):
encourage indigenous research.
Also, we can dig in and see theamount of collaboration and just
how important collaboration isbetween the global north and the
global south. And what we can doas a business to try and
encourage more output and morecollaboration between
(22:50):
researchers in both places.
YS Chi (22:53):
I mean, it's a perfect segway into the next topic I
wanted to touch with you, whichis about data. You said power of
data to advance ESG and CR. Sothat relationship between data
and corporate responsibility,there have been some debates
about the benefits of big datain the context of breaches that
(23:13):
have compromised consumerprivacy, or sometimes fallen in
the hands of criminals. In aprevious podcast episode, I
spoke with Stephen Topliss, whois an expert in digital
identity, to talk aboutcybercrime. How can business
like RELX, ensure that the dataanalytics benefits society and
(23:35):
create benefits for all, meaningdata for good?
Marcia Balisciano (23:39):
I think it's a really critical issue and we
need to make sure that we aredefinitely focused on data for
good. Our colleagues are doingjust that. As we've mentioned
about financial inclusion, wehave had pilots that have been
running in places like Mexico,where we use some of our tools
like ThreatMetrix that usealternative sources for
(24:03):
identifying creditworthiness.
That would make someone fall outif they didn't have, for
example, a credit history. Butusing some of these alternative
sources, like a person'sacademic background, that they
have pursued higher education orthe fact that they have paid
back on student loans. Differentways of looking at their ability
(24:27):
to pay back if they were granteda loan for advancing education
or starting a new business. Sothis has been a really exciting
project for us throughLexisNexis Risk Solutions. In
fact, one of the pilots inMexico, now working with a
(24:52):
fintech partner has become acommercial venture. So it's not
just about philanthropy, it'sabout growing new markets. I
think that's what theopportunity side of ESG really
means.
YS Chi (25:08):
You know, I have to say, it reminds me when I last met
former president of Mexico,Enrique Pea Nieto. We were a
dozen or more businesses meetingwith him at the Summits of the
Americas. Everybody else wastalking about trade, and entry
barriers and all that. When myturn came around, I raised the
(25:31):
issue of what the country wasdoing for financial inclusion
using these tools. It just wentover everybody's head at that
moment. To hear from you thatMexico is our pilot country, and
that it is now getting into ourprivate venture is incredibly
satisfying. It's incredible. Ihope that we continue to use
(25:53):
data for these very goodenhancement of our society's
equity.
At this point Mrrcia, I want topivot a little bit and talk
about your role as a chair ofthe UN Global Compact network
(26:15):
UK. How do you see your roleoverlapping with your role as
the head of CR at RELX?
Marcia Balisciano (26:23):
Well, we're very much a strong supporter of
the United Nations GlobalCompact, we were an early
signatory. We have taken those10 principles which relate to
human rights and labour,environment, anti corruption,
and incorporated that in ourcode of ethics and business
(26:46):
conduct, and also in oursupplier code. We have been
producing over many years acommunication on progress,
showing how we have advancedthose 10 principles in a given
period of time. So it's been areally great guide star to our
business as the kind of businessarm of the UN. I have had the
(27:10):
privilege of actually being oneof the founders of the Global
Compact Network here in the UK,and served on the board and now
have the privilege of serving asthe chair. It gives a really
fascinating insight into thechallenges and also how
(27:31):
companies are advancing in theirwork, which I can take back into
our business, looking across awide range of both large
companies. But also SMEs indealing with the challenges that
businesses are trying to grapplewith. In terms of raising their
performance on the environmentor dealing with issues around
(27:53):
inclusion. Or looking at some ofthe the issues on the social
side of avoiding modern slaveryin our supply chain, but also in
our direct operations. Sothere's a really good best
practice sharing element thathas been beneficial to the work
(28:15):
that I do and my team does hereat RELX.
YS Chi (28:20):
It's probably completely unfair to ask this, but is there
any particular moment orparticular accomplishment that
stands out as a pivotal momentof acknowledging that what you
have poured so much into, isarriving at a point that you
(28:41):
wanted to? I'm not sayingdestination, because we have so
much to go still. But are theresome moments like that you can
share with us?
Marcia Balisciano (28:49):
Well, I think the strength of corporate
responsibility at RELX isdefinitely not about me, it's
about the 33,000 people acrossour business. I am energised
every day by talking with mycolleagues and how passionate
they are. We have a very simplemodel where we really embed
(29:11):
these issues in the heart of ourbusiness through our corporate
responsibility networks.
Examples would be our greenteams, which are employee led
networks or employee resourcegroups where we're expressing
aspects of inclusion anddiversity in our business that
are grassroots-led. Or networksaround accessibility or
(29:34):
editorial policy, quality, etc.
So these networks are a placewhere we can see how these
issues are important toemployees. I guess, when I hear
from colleagues that areinvolved with recruitment, how
(29:55):
they say to me I've heard overthe years and including some of
those colleagues themselves, notonly just in their own
recruiting. That when they werelooking at a company to join,
the corporate responsibilityperformance of RELX and the
importance that we place on thiswas one of the factors that led
them to the business. Thatdefinitely makes me feel happy.
YS Chi (30:18):
I too have heard it so many times, that those who are
looking to join have paidattention to what we do in
corporate responsibility and thedifference that it makes. So
kudos to you. You have the knackof orchestrating, as you said,
(30:38):
people from bottom up toparticipate. That's not the
usual corporate responsibilityprocess that we see in large
companies, right? How are youable to so successfully
orchestrate these things bottomup, and have this tremendous
momentum within the organisationitself? Because you do all this
(31:01):
activity with extremely fewpeople who are dedicated to see
our work as their professionaljob description.
Marcia Balisciano (31:10):
I think that we just recognise that the
strength of our business is inthe people that we have, and
that we have these four areasplus our corporate colleagues.
If we can empower them to takeaction, then we just need to
kind of stand out of the way andlet them let them help to direct
(31:34):
the agenda. We've seen that inso many instances. Just the
other day, I was having aconversation with colleagues at
LexisNexis Legal & Professionalhere in the United Kingdom, who
have been looking at how toadvance the environmental law
portfolio and how they've beensharing that with other people
(31:58):
outside the organisation. Forbetter knowledge of
environmental law, or an examplewould be, my colleagues at
Elsevier who have set up aclimate board to look at the
expertise that we are addressingthrough our products and
services and how we can help totake that expertise and drive it
(32:20):
through in our own performanceas a business. So there's so
much interest, and it's justabout tapping into that and
giving an expression, I think,
YS Chi (32:32):
Yeah and looking at it from a unique angle of the
resources that we we have, andbeing able to do things that no
one else can do. So at thispoint, I want to look out to the
future a little bit Marcia withyou. There have been many
challenges so far already in the18 years. If you look out the
(32:54):
next 18 years in corporateresponsibility at RELX, what do
you see as some of thechallenges and opportunities?
Marcia Balisciano (33:04):
Well, we were very happy in terms of our 2020
performance to be able toachieve a net zero carbon
emissions on our, what's called,scope 1 and scope 2 emissions
plus business travel. Where wealways try to err on being
(33:25):
humble. So we have yet toformulate a longer term net zero
ambition, which is definitelyone of the things that we want
to do going forward. We knowthat to be credible, our net
zero ambition has to be aboutreduction. We set very stringent
environmental targets. Our mostrecent set concluded between
(33:50):
2015 and 2020 and now we havenew goals that we're trying to
reach. For example, reducing ourscope 1 and 2 carbon emissions
by 46%, over a 2015 baseline. Sothis will be challenging. We
want to advocate and we do thatconsiderably through our
(34:11):
products and services, which weconsider to be our best
environmental impact. We do italso by looking, using those
green teams and engaging withcolleagues who are experts, for
example, in global procurementor in global real estate, to
help us improve our portfolioand to engage on reduction
(34:36):
efforts. So that always has tobe the starting point, reducing.
But also, if we are going to beinvolved with offsetting on our
carbon emissions for what wecan't do through buying green
terra through reduction. Thatreally has to be of exceptional
(34:59):
quality, where it is additional.
So no one else would be claimingthose offsets, but also that
they are about removing carbonfrom the atmosphere and then
involved with long term storage.
So the technologies comingalongside, we need to be aware
of what that is, as we lookthrough our shows like World
(35:25):
Future Energy Summit, orAll-Energy, and through some of
our journals and the books andother things that we're
producing, that we continue todrive this forward. But we also
need to be part of industryinitiatives, which we are. We're
part of something called theResponsible Media Forum. We're a
(35:45):
founding member of that, and wesigned up and took the plunge
last year to be part of theClimate Pact, which launched in
2020. That requires us to have ascience based carbon reduction
target, which we do. It alsoasks us to do a couple things
around our content, to look athow we can train using our
(36:07):
content, but also how we caninfluence on the agenda. Very
excited YS to say, watch thisspace, the colleagues at
Elsevier are working on a netzero report, which we will have
on Elsevier.com, but also on theresource centre freely available
in terms of leading edgeknowledge on net zero. That will
(36:29):
be launching around COP26, theglobal climate conference, which
will be happening November 2021.
YS Chi (36:38):
Right here in the UK.
Let's hope that we can all bethere in person by then. I want
to bring the whole circle backto you. You've been in this
seat, the driver's seat for along time, and you have never
been tired. You have incredibleenergy. How do you keep that
passion going?
Marcia Balisciano (37:01):
Well, it definitely comes back to the
people that I get to work with,like you and other colleagues
throughout the business whoinspire me, as I said. And just
seeing how much this agenda, aswe talked about in the beginning
of our conversation, has becomeintegral to how a company is
(37:23):
assessed in terms of theirimmediate performance but also
their long term performance. Asyou said, we know that we have
more to do and I want to be partof that continued effort to
ensure that we are among thebest in our peer group on
corporate responsibility and onESG. So I am excited for the
(37:47):
things that we will do in thefuture.
YS Chi (37:51):
So with all this that you're doing, you're a true
pioneer in many ways, not justwithin RELX but in the whole
world of corporateresponsibility. From the passion
for all things international,here you are really impacting
the globe. Thank you, Marcia, orshould I say Dr. Marcia, unique
contribution, Balisciano.
Marcia Balisciano (38:12):
Thank you YS.
YS Chi (38:14):
Thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. Don't
forget to hit subscribe on yourpodcast app to get new episodes
as soon as they're released. Andthank you for listening.
The Unique Contributions podcast is brought to you by
RELX. Find out more about us byvisiting RELX.com.
Mrcia Balisciano (00:10):
When they were looking at a company to
join, the corporateresponsibility performance of
RELX and the importance that weplace on this was one of the
factors that led them to thebusiness. That definitely makes
me feel happy.
YS Chi (00:40):
Hello and welcome to our second series of unique
contributions, a RELX podcastwhere we bring you closer to
some of the most interestingpeople from around our business.
I'm YS Chi and I'll be exploringwith my guests some of the big
issues that matter to society,how they're making a difference,
and what brought them to wherethey are today. My guest today
(01:02):
is Marcia Balisciano, who is thefounding global head of
corporate responsibility atRELX, and also the chair of the
United Nations Global Compactnetwork UK. In the last few
years, corporate responsibilityhas climbed up the agenda and is
now top of mind forstakeholders. The pandemic has
accelerated the trend and thebusiness case for stakeholder
(01:23):
capitalism is clear. Sustainablebusinesses are those that will
be there for the long term. AtRELX, we have understood this
for a long time, largely thanksto Marcia who has been at the
company for the incredible 18years. RELX is one of the most
sustainable business in theworld and scores consistently at
(01:43):
the top of ESG rankings. But thework is never done. I'll be
asking Marcia about the journeythat has placed corporate
responsibility at the heart ofRELX's business strategy, what
her challenges are, and mostimportantly, how she ensures
that we walk the talk. Mrcia,thank you for joining the
podcast, great having you here.
I know you've been around mostlyaround London. How has it been
(02:07):
like trying to run the corporateresponsibility team from home
while also looking after yourtwo young boys?
Marcia Balisciano (02:15):
Well, it has definitely been an interesting
time, in such a year or so ofchallenge, for so many people
around the world. And it'sdefinitely been an exercise in
learning how to juggle thingswell, while trying to work and
for a number of months over thelast year and a bit, homeschool
(02:37):
at the same time.
YS Chi (02:39):
Well, from what I've been able to watch from afar,
you've done a great job. Let'sget to your personal story first
Marcia. You've had a veryinteresting youth from what I
know. You grew up in Salem,Massachusetts, and then you
started moving all over theworld. And somehow you moved and
ended up in Japan, tell us?
Marcia Balisciano (03:00):
Well my mother, was an amazing woman,
decided that Salem would be avery interesting place full of
history, to raise her youngfamily. And I just fell in love
with the history. After having apaper route or paper round, as
(03:22):
they say in England, I became atour guide in Salem. So it was
absolutely fascinating to beimmersed in the history of that
place. I was a very avid readerand I loved learning about
different cultures. When I foundmyself in university, I once saw
a poster for a trip calledSemester at Sea, which was the
(03:46):
opportunity to learn and goaround the world. My ship was a
1950's container ship and ourfirst port was going to be
Japan. We were visiting 12countries and I had a very
unusual situation, in that itwas a bit expensive and they
took about 15 students as workstudy. So I was very fortunate
(04:10):
in being very persistent andasking for one of those places
and I got it. So I was able towork alongside a Taiwanese crew,
it wasn't too difficult. Iworked mostly in the library and
duty desk in various ports. Butour first place that we'd be
arriving to was Japan and I hada great interest in visiting
(04:32):
Europe. I thought, oh well, Ihope I'll be able to see a lot
more of the world. It wasn'treally that high up on my list.
But when I ventured off theship, I was totally captivated
and decided that after I hadtaken this amazing journey that
I wanted to go back. I ended upspending the better part of a
year, continuing my studies inJapan as part of my
(04:55):
undergraduate training.
YS Chi (04:56):
Wow. And from that, where else did you end up going?
And then how did you end up inLondon and then eventually at
RELX?
Marcia Balisciano (05:07):
I just had a passion for all things
international. When I finishedmy studies in Japan, I finished
my undergraduate degree andbegan thinking about what was
next. I wanted to get someexperience and I actually moved
to Chicago because theUniversity of Chicago was in my
(05:27):
sights. They have a veryinteresting interdisciplinary
programme in internationalrelations. But I needed to get
some work experience first, andI saw that there was an
organisation called the JapanAmerica Society. I called them
up and I said, oh, do you haveany recommendations because I've
had some period of time in Japanand I would like to find some
(05:51):
interesting work. They said no,they didn't have any. So I hung
up and then I called them backand I said, could you use a
volunteer? They said that theycould use, and that's how I
began...
YS Chi (06:04):
Always a free labourer, huh?
Marcia Balisciano (06:06):
Yes. But there was a barter agreement
because I said, if I volunteer,what I want to do is put an ad
about myself in your newsletter.
Somebody saw that ad, who waslooking for a wood products
company to develop an exportprogramme in Japan. That's how I
ended up working for a shorttime in wood, to understand what
(06:29):
it would be like to develop anexport programme. So it was a
great opportunity for a youngperson and I eventually did go
to the University of Chicago anddo degree, a master's degree in
International Relations and thatwas really great. When I
(06:50):
finished, I thought, well, I'mgoing to continue my trajectory
because my studies were aboutJapanese political economy, kind
of the intersection between theeconomy and politics. How I
could correlate that into workthat was focused on Asia, but
actually, the job that I foundwas needing someone in Latin
(07:11):
America. So I was based inChicago, but looking at markets
in the fashion industry for aChicago manufacturer and who had
licence agreements. So again, itwas a brief stint, because I've
spent most of my career at RELX.
But it was very eye opening andI got to see that part of the
(07:33):
world. I knew that I wanted togo back and do a PhD as an
exercise and thinking. Ithought, well, I have a
background in Asia, and maybethis experience that I've been
having in America, I'll proposea comparative topic. So I was
very interested in the LondonSchool of Economics, which has a
(07:56):
great programme and economichistory. I remember writing to
them and saying, why I was anice person and they should let
me in. This research tutor wroteme back and said, that's all
well and good, but we need atestable hypothesis, methodology
and sources. So I put togethersomething looking at the
(08:16):
economic development, andparticularly planning in Japan
and Argentina, which both hadplanning boards in the early
20th century, and why one seemedto do better than the other. The
research tutor wrote to me backand said, well, we have serious
doubts about your topic, butwe're going to let you in. That
was fine, because I had seriousdoubts about my topic too. In
(08:39):
the end, I ended up doingsomething on the US experience
with economic planning, butthat's what brought me to
London.
YS Chi (08:45):
Wow. We're glad it brought you to London because
you found RELX. And you are the,founder having spent 18 years
really starting the work aroundcorporate responsibility, and
put us at the top of the leaguetables on ESG. How has corporate
(09:06):
responsibility developed? Howhas it grown over the better
part of the last two decades?
Marcia Balisciano (09:12):
I think when I started there was more of a
use of the term corporate socialresponsibility. There was a
burgeoning interest when Istarted at RELX. I was hired by
our then CEO Crispin Davis, whowas interested in developing a
global community programme, butI could see just months into the
(09:34):
job that there were questionsbeing asked of us that we didn't
necessarily know the answer to.
How are we avoiding child labourin our supply chain? How were we
ensuring that we were procuringpaper that was used in our
supply chain, making sure thatit was from known and legal
sources? We didn't really have agood sense of what that was all
(09:58):
about. So I raised my hand andsaid, I think this is all part
of how we look at the extrafinancial performance of the
company. But there was a muchstronger emphasis on the S of
the social, but linked tophilanthropy at that point when
I started. But just over time,these issues have grown in terms
(10:23):
of the importance. I think alsorelative to an awareness of the
climate crisis as being one ofthe most important issues of our
time. The need for businessalong with other stakeholders to
address this, which has helpedto move this agenda forward from
something that sometimesbusinesses were criticised, was
(10:48):
this a bolt on activity to beingsomething that's really integral
to how we're assessing our risksand opportunities.
YS Chi (10:57):
Yeah, so it went from social to just general corporate
responsibility, now to ESG.
Which is in the forefront ofeverybody's mind?
Marcia Balisciano (11:08):
Yes, all our stakeholders matter. I think we
have been very clear right fromthe beginning of our focus on
risk corporate responsibility,that there is not a trade off
between our differentstakeholders. We need to be
responsive to our investors, weneed to be a profitable
(11:29):
business, we also need to havethe right people and to make
sure that we are treating ourpeople well. So they stay, that
they decide to develop theircareers RELX, as well as being
responsive to government andtheir expectations, NGOs, etc.
But the investment communitybegan looking at socially
(11:53):
responsible funds, and sociallyresponsible investment. And that
really wasn't always core to thebusiness of the investors. But
over time, seeing how integralthese issues are to the
financial health of a company,they rose higher in how they
(12:16):
were assessing companies. Sotoday, ESG, as you say, is very
prominent. So the E stands forenvironment, the S for social in
the widest sense of that term,and the G for governance. And it
has become something moremainstream in the conversations
that we have with our investors.
I work very closely with ourexcellent investor relations
(12:36):
team, to talk with them aboutthe questions that they have in
what are those specific risksthat we face? And how are we
working to minimise those, forexample, on an environmental
basis. And what are the longterm opportunities? How are we
working to maximise those?
YS Chi (12:56):
Right, and the prominence is getting from all
segments, from governments, frominvestors, companies,
individuals and employees,future employees as well. And
because we've been doing thisthing for long term, it's good
thing for RELX. But there issomething different about our
approach to corporateresponsibility that has driven
(13:20):
the success so far, and has thisincredible momentum. It is also
the title of our podcast, theconcept of unique contributions.
Marcia, please tell our audienceabout how that really drives a
different kind of energy to whatyou do with your team.
Marcia Balisciano (13:42):
Well, I have to say I credit you YS as head
of corporate affairs, our CEOErik Engstrm, for really
encouraging us to think throughwhat is different about the work
that we do and the impact thatwe have on society, and to
articulate our uniquecontributions. So we are
(14:05):
constantly thinking about theseissues. The overarching one is
universal sustainable access toinformation, which is a common
denominator across our fourbusiness areas. Then the others
really map to the expertise andthe contributions that those
businesses make. Elsevier isvery much focused on advancing
(14:30):
science, improving healthoutcomes. LexisNexis Risk
Solutions has expertise infighting fraud and crime, but
also reducing inequalities. Iknow something that I'd like to
talk about during ourconversation today, around
reducing the gap on financialinclusion that is experienced,
(14:54):
that our colleagues have at ourLexisNexis Risk Solutions Group.
But it's also about furtheringthe rule of law and access to
justice at LexisNexis, Legal &Professional. In terms of the
work that we do to improve thejudges decisions that they may
make through the legalinformation that we can provide,
(15:17):
to help judges and lawyers bemore effective. And just to
ensure that we are promoting therule of law everywhere around
the world, as a foundation forhow business and society is
conducted. But then we also havefostering communities, which
really map so well to ReedExhibitions, which is one of the
(15:38):
world's largest eventsbusinesses. In terms of how we
bring different communitiestogether, both buyers and
sellers that improve theefficiency of those markets, and
also have an impact within thesectors that are represented by
those shows.
YS Chi (15:58):
Right, and you mentioned earlier about how RELX does not
see any trade off between beingprofitable and being a
responsible business. So itsounds to me like unique
contribution goes to the heartof what we do daily anyway,
whether it's scienceinformation, health information,
(16:20):
fraud or crime prevention, andso on. So it's the stuff that we
do daily. It's just that weorient them toward multiple use.
Is that a good way of lookingat?
Marcia Balisciano (16:31):
Yeah, I think so. That's when we talk about
the positive impact that we havethrough conducting our business,
that is definitely at theessence of it. It's ingrained
in, as you say, what we do everyday. But we also think about how
we minimise the risks of what wedo. So at LexisNexis Risk
(16:56):
Solutions Group, thinking aboutdata privacy and security,
ensuring that we have thehighest levels of data privacy
and security, given how integraldata is to that business. Or, as
we think about access issuesthrough Elsevier, through
Research4Life, for example,which is a programme that we
(17:18):
have been a founding partner of,providing access to our content
in 2020. There were over amillion downloads of content
through Elsevier's amazingScienceDirect database, which
can help researchers indifferent parts of the world
that would not necessarily beable to access that content
(17:39):
otherwise. To be able to haveit, to inform the knowledge that
they're progressing. Somaximising these things, but
also looking at addressing anyrisks that we face in conducting
our business is the oppositeside of the equation.
YS Chi (18:06):
As you said, we're gonna touch on financial inclusion in
a minute. But one of the thingsthat is truly remarkable about
your leadership, has been howyou can continue to anticipate
and go along and lead the newfocus that the society is
(18:26):
placing on corporations. So oneof those examples is the SDG
Resource Centre. I would verymuch like you to tell us a
little bit about how that cameabout and what it's doing,
please.
Marcia Balisciano (18:38):
Yeah, absolutely. Working with our
colleagues at Elsevier in 2014,in the run up to 2015 when the
SDGs were adopted, we thoughtthere's content that we have
that can inform knowledge onthis agenda. We didn't even know
(18:59):
all of the 17 SDGs at thatpoint, but we knew it was a
focus on people and the planet.
We produced this piece ofresearch called sustainability
science in a global researchlandscape. On the very day that
all the nations of the UnitedNations adopted the SDGs
unanimously, we were at One UNPlaza, just across the street,
(19:21):
when we presented the findingsof that research. We asked
Richard Horton, editor of TheLancet to provide the highlights
of that research. There were anumber of us sitting in the
audience thinking, this isreally fantastic, and we need to
keep going because it's a 15year agenda, which concludes in
2030. Very much focused onraising the bar around the world
(19:48):
in issues that affect bothdeveloped nations but also some
of the least developed nationsthe hardest. In terms of
avoiding poverty, focusing ongender equality or quality
education or life on land, lifebelow water, etc. So we thought
(20:08):
long and hard about what wecould do, and out of that came
in 2017, the RELX SDG ResourceCentre. It is a free resource
for the world, it is availableat sdgresources.relx.com. There
are over 1500 content sourcesfrom across our business. All
(20:34):
four of our business areas havecontributed content and continue
to. Our content actually grewbetween 2019 and 20, by over
50%, and our number of usersgrew by about 80%. So we had
nearly 90,000 unique users ofthe site last year, but we
really want to grow that becausethis content is just so good.
(20:56):
For example, you can see the 17SDGs, you can click in and get
some of the best knowledge inthe world on the those SDGs. Our
colleagues at LexisNexis on thehomepage, built for us an SDG
news tracker. Where you can getup to the minute news on the
(21:18):
SDGs in all the UN languagesincluding German. You can also
find original research. So wedid a big project working with
Elsevier's Scopus, a citationsdatabase and also SciVal, this
great analytical tool that canrun over the top of Scopus to
pull out these SDG graphics. Onwhat is the state of knowledge
(21:42):
today underpinning the SDGs, andthe findings were incredible.
You can see each individualgraphic on the site. You can
also see a free report where wepackage it together, ran some
overlays looking at gender, forexample, and the SDGs. It's
called the power of data toadvance the SDGs. It's really
(22:05):
fascinating because of 4 millionpublications that were produced
over a five year period up to2019, you can see that less than
2% of the output are from lowincome countries. So that really
points to the fact that wereally need to be doing more to
(22:28):
encourage indigenous research.
Also, we can dig in and see theamount of collaboration and just
how important collaboration isbetween the global north and the
global south. And what we can doas a business to try and
encourage more output and morecollaboration between
(22:50):
researchers in both places.
YS Chi (22:53):
I mean, it's a perfect segway into the next topic I
wanted to touch with you, whichis about data. You said power of
data to advance ESG and CR. Sothat relationship between data
and corporate responsibility,there have been some debates
about the benefits of big datain the context of breaches that
(23:13):
have compromised consumerprivacy, or sometimes fallen in
the hands of criminals. In aprevious podcast episode, I
spoke with Stephen Topliss, whois an expert in digital
identity, to talk aboutcybercrime. How can business
like RELX, ensure that the dataanalytics benefits society and
(23:35):
create benefits for all, meaningdata for good?
Marcia Balisciano (23:39):
I think it's a really critical issue and we
need to make sure that we aredefinitely focused on data for
good. Our colleagues are doingjust that. As we've mentioned
about financial inclusion, wehave had pilots that have been
running in places like Mexico,where we use some of our tools
like ThreatMetrix that usealternative sources for
(24:03):
identifying creditworthiness.
That would make someone fall outif they didn't have, for
example, a credit history. Butusing some of these alternative
sources, like a person'sacademic background, that they
have pursued higher education orthe fact that they have paid
back on student loans. Differentways of looking at their ability
(24:27):
to pay back if they were granteda loan for advancing education
or starting a new business. Sothis has been a really exciting
project for us throughLexisNexis Risk Solutions. In
fact, one of the pilots inMexico, now working with a
(24:52):
fintech partner has become acommercial venture. So it's not
just about philanthropy, it'sabout growing new markets. I
think that's what theopportunity side of ESG really
means.
YS Chi (25:08):
You know, I have to say, it reminds me when I last met
former president of Mexico,Enrique Pea Nieto. We were a
dozen or more businesses meetingwith him at the Summits of the
Americas. Everybody else wastalking about trade, and entry
barriers and all that. When myturn came around, I raised the
(25:31):
issue of what the country wasdoing for financial inclusion
using these tools. It just wentover everybody's head at that
moment. To hear from you thatMexico is our pilot country, and
that it is now getting into ourprivate venture is incredibly
satisfying. It's incredible. Ihope that we continue to use
(25:53):
data for these very goodenhancement of our society's
equity.
At this point Mrrcia, I want topivot a little bit and talk
about your role as a chair ofthe UN Global Compact network
(26:15):
UK. How do you see your roleoverlapping with your role as
the head of CR at RELX?
Marcia Balisciano (26:23):
Well, we're very much a strong supporter of
the United Nations GlobalCompact, we were an early
signatory. We have taken those10 principles which relate to
human rights and labour,environment, anti corruption,
and incorporated that in ourcode of ethics and business
(26:46):
conduct, and also in oursupplier code. We have been
producing over many years acommunication on progress,
showing how we have advancedthose 10 principles in a given
period of time. So it's been areally great guide star to our
business as the kind of businessarm of the UN. I have had the
(27:10):
privilege of actually being oneof the founders of the Global
Compact Network here in the UK,and served on the board and now
have the privilege of serving asthe chair. It gives a really
fascinating insight into thechallenges and also how
(27:31):
companies are advancing in theirwork, which I can take back into
our business, looking across awide range of both large
companies. But also SMEs indealing with the challenges that
businesses are trying to grapplewith. In terms of raising their
performance on the environmentor dealing with issues around
(27:53):
inclusion. Or looking at some ofthe the issues on the social
side of avoiding modern slaveryin our supply chain, but also in
our direct operations. Sothere's a really good best
practice sharing element thathas been beneficial to the work
(28:15):
that I do and my team does hereat RELX.
YS Chi (28:20):
It's probably completely unfair to ask this, but is there
any particular moment orparticular accomplishment that
stands out as a pivotal momentof acknowledging that what you
have poured so much into, isarriving at a point that you
(28:41):
wanted to? I'm not sayingdestination, because we have so
much to go still. But are theresome moments like that you can
share with us?
Marcia Balisciano (28:49):
Well, I think the strength of corporate
responsibility at RELX isdefinitely not about me, it's
about the 33,000 people acrossour business. I am energised
every day by talking with mycolleagues and how passionate
they are. We have a very simplemodel where we really embed
(29:11):
these issues in the heart of ourbusiness through our corporate
responsibility networks.
Examples would be our greenteams, which are employee led
networks or employee resourcegroups where we're expressing
aspects of inclusion anddiversity in our business that
are grassroots-led. Or networksaround accessibility or
(29:34):
editorial policy, quality, etc.
So these networks are a placewhere we can see how these
issues are important toemployees. I guess, when I hear
from colleagues that areinvolved with recruitment, how
(29:55):
they say to me I've heard overthe years and including some of
those colleagues themselves, notonly just in their own
recruiting. That when they werelooking at a company to join,
the corporate responsibilityperformance of RELX and the
importance that we place on thiswas one of the factors that led
them to the business. Thatdefinitely makes me feel happy.
YS Chi (30:18):
I too have heard it so many times, that those who are
looking to join have paidattention to what we do in
corporate responsibility and thedifference that it makes. So
kudos to you. You have the knackof orchestrating, as you said,
(30:38):
people from bottom up toparticipate. That's not the
usual corporate responsibilityprocess that we see in large
companies, right? How are youable to so successfully
orchestrate these things bottomup, and have this tremendous
momentum within the organisationitself? Because you do all this
(31:01):
activity with extremely fewpeople who are dedicated to see
our work as their professionaljob description.
Marcia Balisciano (31:10):
I think that we just recognise that the
strength of our business is inthe people that we have, and
that we have these four areasplus our corporate colleagues.
If we can empower them to takeaction, then we just need to
kind of stand out of the way andlet them let them help to direct
(31:34):
the agenda. We've seen that inso many instances. Just the
other day, I was having aconversation with colleagues at
LexisNexis Legal & Professionalhere in the United Kingdom, who
have been looking at how toadvance the environmental law
portfolio and how they've beensharing that with other people
(31:58):
outside the organisation. Forbetter knowledge of
environmental law, or an examplewould be, my colleagues at
Elsevier who have set up aclimate board to look at the
expertise that we are addressingthrough our products and
services and how we can help totake that expertise and drive it
(32:20):
through in our own performanceas a business. So there's so
much interest, and it's justabout tapping into that and
giving an expression, I think,
YS Chi (32:32):
Yeah and looking at it from a unique angle of the
resources that we we have, andbeing able to do things that no
one else can do. So at thispoint, I want to look out to the
future a little bit Marcia withyou. There have been many
challenges so far already in the18 years. If you look out the
(32:54):
next 18 years in corporateresponsibility at RELX, what do
you see as some of thechallenges and opportunities?
Marcia Balisciano (33:04):
Well, we were very happy in terms of our 2020
performance to be able toachieve a net zero carbon
emissions on our, what's called,scope 1 and scope 2 emissions
plus business travel. Where wealways try to err on being
(33:25):
humble. So we have yet toformulate a longer term net zero
ambition, which is definitelyone of the things that we want
to do going forward. We knowthat to be credible, our net
zero ambition has to be aboutreduction. We set very stringent
environmental targets. Our mostrecent set concluded between
(33:50):
2015 and 2020 and now we havenew goals that we're trying to
reach. For example, reducing ourscope 1 and 2 carbon emissions
by 46%, over a 2015 baseline. Sothis will be challenging. We
want to advocate and we do thatconsiderably through our
(34:11):
products and services, which weconsider to be our best
environmental impact. We do italso by looking, using those
green teams and engaging withcolleagues who are experts, for
example, in global procurementor in global real estate, to
help us improve our portfolioand to engage on reduction
(34:36):
efforts. So that always has tobe the starting point, reducing.
But also, if we are going to beinvolved with offsetting on our
carbon emissions for what wecan't do through buying green
terra through reduction. Thatreally has to be of exceptional
(34:59):
quality, where it is additional.
So no one else would be claimingthose offsets, but also that
they are about removing carbonfrom the atmosphere and then
involved with long term storage.
So the technologies comingalongside, we need to be aware
of what that is, as we lookthrough our shows like World
(35:25):
Future Energy Summit, orAll-Energy, and through some of
our journals and the books andother things that we're
producing, that we continue todrive this forward. But we also
need to be part of industryinitiatives, which we are. We're
part of something called theResponsible Media Forum. We're a
(35:45):
founding member of that, and wesigned up and took the plunge
last year to be part of theClimate Pact, which launched in
2020. That requires us to have ascience based carbon reduction
target, which we do. It alsoasks us to do a couple things
around our content, to look athow we can train using our
(36:07):
content, but also how we caninfluence on the agenda. Very
excited YS to say, watch thisspace, the colleagues at
Elsevier are working on a netzero report, which we will have
on Elsevier.com, but also on theresource centre freely available
in terms of leading edgeknowledge on net zero. That will
(36:29):
be launching around COP26, theglobal climate conference, which
will be happening November 2021.
YS Chi (36:38):
Right here in the UK.
Let's hope that we can all bethere in person by then. I want
to bring the whole circle backto you. You've been in this
seat, the driver's seat for along time, and you have never
been tired. You have incredibleenergy. How do you keep that
passion going?
Marcia Balisciano (37:01):
Well, it definitely comes back to the
people that I get to work with,like you and other colleagues
throughout the business whoinspire me, as I said. And just
seeing how much this agenda, aswe talked about in the beginning
of our conversation, has becomeintegral to how a company is
(37:23):
assessed in terms of theirimmediate performance but also
their long term performance. Asyou said, we know that we have
more to do and I want to be partof that continued effort to
ensure that we are among thebest in our peer group on
corporate responsibility and onESG. So I am excited for the
(37:47):
things that we will do in thefuture.
YS Chi (37:51):
So with all this that you're doing, you're a true
pioneer in many ways, not justwithin RELX but in the whole
world of corporateresponsibility. From the passion
for all things international,here you are really impacting
the globe. Thank you, Marcia, orshould I say Dr. Marcia, unique
contribution, Balisciano.
Marcia Balisciano (38:12):
Thank you YS.
YS Chi (38:14):
Thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. Don't
forget to hit subscribe on yourpodcast app to get new episodes
as soon as they're released. Andthank you for listening.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com