Economic Daily News.
By Jhih Shan, Jheng / Reporter

The 2023 TCSA, the country's most prestigious and highly anticipated recognition for Taiwan corporate sustainability, is now accepting registrations. In alignment with the current emphasis on corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), this year's awards introduce two new categories: the 'Workplace Wellbeing Leadership Award ' and the 'Age-Friendly Leadership Award'. These categories aim to inspire companies to implement tangible measures that foster a welcoming and healthy workplace environment, promoting intergenerational harmony.

TCSA is organised by TAISE with the coordination and execution overseen by the TCSA Executive Committee. Ambassador-at-large Eugene Chien, the Chair of TAISE, underscores the foundation's consistent use of a positive encouragement approach to inspire companies in their progressive sustainability journey. It begins with the compilation of comprehensive sustainability reports and the transparent disclosure of relevant information, leading to a gradual improvement of practices and the ultimate achievement of holistic sustainable development. Throughout the past 15 years, the awards have diligently followed international trends, norms, and evaluation criteria, setting domestic benchmarks and serving as exemplars for corporate sustainability. Moreover, they have continuously generated fresh ESG value, further reinforcing their impact.

According to the TCSA Executive Committee's statistics, the total combined annual revenue or government budget of the participating organisations in the previous year reached an impressive NT$ 36 trillion, equivalent to approximately 167% of Taiwan's GDP in 2021. This remarkable figure highlights how TCSA has emerged as the most prestigious platform for businesses, government agencies, hospitals, schools, and NGOs to demonstrate their sustainable achievements. The winners of the ‘Top 100 Sustainability Exemplary Awards’ and ‘Comprehensive Corporate Sustainability Performance’ awards, in particular, are widely recognised by both domestic and international investors as crucial ESG investment reference points.

The 2023 TCSA comprises four major categories: ‘Outstanding Corporate Sustainability Professionals’, ‘Comprehensive Corporate Performance’, ‘Best Performance of Specific Categories’, and ‘Corporate Sustainability Report Awards’. These categories encourage participating organisations to assess their own achievements and present a diverse range of long-term sustainability efforts, while simultaneously enhancing their corporate image, reputation, and brand. The ‘Best Performance of Specific Categories’ is further divided into 14 subcategories based on different aspects of ESG, including climate leadership, sustainable water resources management, circular economy leadership, human rights implementation and development, sustainable supply chain, social inclusion, gender equality, workplace well-being, age-friendly initiatives, information security, growth through innovation, transparency and integrity, talent development, and creativity in communication. These categories serve to recognise and reward organisations that demonstrate exemplary leadership performances in each specific aspect.

The TCSA Executive Committee explained that the newly added 'Workplace Wellbeing Leadership Award' is primarily based on the GRI Occupational Health and Safety Guidelines. It encourages companies to enhance their workplace health management systems and uphold a healthy workforce. Meanwhile, the 'Age-Friendly Leadership Award' draws inspiration from relevant guidelines by the World Health Organisation and the World Economic Forum. This award acknowledges companies that formulate age-friendly policies and allocate resources to implement tangible initiatives, leading to positive contributions and significant impacts.

The Committee underscored that each award is aligned with the latest international trends and encompasses a thorough evaluation of corporate sustainability and ESG performance. Objective assessment methods have been meticulously devised, incorporating a total of 74 metrics and 103 key indicators. Additionally, the extensive participation of over 800 esteemed judges ensures the implementation of rigorous and equitable evaluation principles. This guarantees the highest level of integrity throughout the selection process.

The 2023 TCSA are now open for registration and will accept applications until 10th August. The culmination of this event will be the grand awards ceremony held in conjunction with the 6th Global Corporate Sustainability Forum (GCSF) on 15th November. For detailed information regarding the selection criteria and event specifics, please visit the official TCSA website.