On 12 May 2021, the value of Bitcoin tumbled by more than 10% after Elon Musk announced by tweet that Tesla would no longer be accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for any of its vehicles – a change of direction for Tesla, having purchased a $1.5 billion Bitcoin reserve just months earlier in February. While neither the fall of the notoriously volatile currency nor Mr Musk causing stocks to plummet with a single tweet are unprecedented occurrences, the context surrounding this particular event has some interesting implications.
Musk explained Tesla’s decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as payment by citing concerns about the environmental ramifications of Bitcoin’s energy footprint. Despite speculation swirling as to whether this was the true motivation behind Tesla’s decision, the process of mining Bitcoin does indeed consume vast amounts of electricity: according to the University of Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, the Bitcoin network uses 142.59 TWh of electricity a year – higher than the consumption of many entire countries. That was the only justification Musk needed to give, resulting in a profoundly negative impact on Bitcoin’s value and reputation. Perhaps most importantly, the announcement brought environmental concerns to the forefront of conversations about the viability of cryptocurrency in the future.
ESG’s rising value in an environmentally-conscious world
Demonstrating environmental viability in a net-zero world is becoming increasingly vital for businesses, as the climate crisis becomes an ever-more potent issue in the minds of both investors and customers. The focus on climate is set to increase further as action becomes increasingly urgent, the pandemic fades, and we turn our collective gaze to economic and social recovery and the future. Our response to the climate crisis is arguably the most important challenge we will face, and will define the mid-21st century and beyond. Human civilisation has arrived at a critical juncture, and a greener world is vital for our future prosperity. Businesses must be prepared for what that world will look like, and benefits will be seen by those who take the opportunity to capitalise on playing a part in the transition to a net-zero world.
This is where ESG comes in. The importance of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) matters has been growing exponentially over the course of the past decade, and will only become a more central part of business practices as the climate crisis crystallises at the forefront of public consciousness in the post-pandemic world. While most companies may not be responsible for the same level of environmental damage as Bitcoin or have the celebrity attention of Elon Musk, the Bitcoin case illustrates that ESG is a crucial area for businesses to prioritise. For companies of all sizes, paying attention to ESG as an integral part of their strategy will benefit the business and protect its reputation, as well as having wider advantages for society and the planet.
What increasing publicity about ESG means for businesses
The extraordinary amount of attention given to corporate responsibility in the transition to a net-zero world, the growth of online resources on the matter, and an ever-increasing sensitivity to greenwashing all point to the importance of a robust, coherent, and transparent ESG strategy in today’s digital world. And it’s no longer just the ever-watchful eyes of Twitter activists that businesses need to consider. ESG information on businesses is now readily available and widely sought-after by investors and potential customers alike.
Sites such as Tortoise Media (with its Responsibility100 Index) rank companies on their ESG commitments, and the emergence of dedicated climate sections of influential business media outlets such as the Financial Times and Bloomberg mean that environment-related shortcomings no longer go unnoticed – but neither do successes. A recent McKinsey survey found that when businesses engaged with sustainability practices in the right way, a quarter of respondents saw immediate modest or significant value gains, with a further half expected to do so in the next five years. And companies who successfully engage with sustainability practices can expect their value to increase by an average of 4-6%. Implementing ESG strategies and initiatives will benefit businesses now, and prepare them for the future. Any value gained from well-implemented environmental initiatives today will only rise as the world begins to shift more concertedly in the direction of sustainability, and companies that find themselves left behind may find it difficult to catch up. Matters of environmental, social, and corporate governance are now a necessity for companies, not just to ensure a good reputational standing, but increasingly as a core facet of a successful business.
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We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
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Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
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We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to webrequests@digitalis.com