Corporate social transparency and inclusive international development
- Özge İskit
- Aug 28
- 2 min read
Reflecting on the discussions I had during the London Climate Action Week, I think, the most exciting development in the ESG world is TISFD -Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures. As a strategy and change professional, I see TISFD as more than disclosure. It's a governance blueprint for inclusive and accountable leadership.
I’ve worked across systems-level change programmes advising C-suite leaders, national authorities, UN and EU institutions on governance, social impact, and transparency reforms. This experience has shown me that embedding social performance into strategy and governance is not only ethical, it’s essential for resilience and long-term value creation. However, change is never easy.
UNDP is one of the founding partners of TISFD. During my two decades of experience working with the UN, EU and UK government departments I’ve seen how effective leadership, robust governance, and agile strategy can unlock systemic transformation. UNDP can be the bridge between corporate social transparency and inclusive international development by supporting this agenda in the following ways:
1. Mainstream social risk into development finance:
- Integrate TISFD-aligned social risk indicators into UNDP’s development financing tools.
- Support governments and financial institutions in adopting social-related financial disclosures.
- Promote social stress-testing of public investment portfolios.
2. Strengthen national governance for social transparency:
- Help countries develop regulatory frameworks that mandate or incentivise social disclosures.
- Build capacity in national statistics offices and ministries to track inequality-related metrics.
- Support public-private dialogue platforms to align corporate and national social goals.
3. Pilot TISFD-aligned programmes:
- Launch demonstration projects that test TISFD-aligned disclosures in sectors like agriculture, textiles, or extractives.
- Use UNDP’s convening power to bring together corporates, civil society, and regulators to co-create reporting standards.
4. Leverage signature solutions:
- Under the Poverty & Inequality and Governance pillars, embed TISFD principles into:
Social protection systems
Inclusive business models
Public procurement reforms
- Under Gender Equality, promote gender-disaggregated disclosures and equitable workplace practices.
5. Global advocacy and norm-setting:
- Use UNDP’s voice in multilateral forums to advocate for social transparency as a global norm.
- Collaborate with the TISFD Alliance to shape the framework and ensure it reflects Global South realities.
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