Paul Polman made his comments during a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Polman added that "hard data" was showing that "more gender diverse companies perform better, companies that internalize climate challenges and reduce those perform better." This also applied to firms addressing "human rights issues" in their value chain.
"Although the accounting standard systems have not caught up yet, the financial market is already able to value these, what some people call, 'immaterial' issues," he said. "They are material and they're incredibly important for the future of a company.""Or you have the Teslas, or you have the Beyond Meats that go to alternatives for food. They are significantly higher valued than the incumbents, who have a harder time to change.
Tesla specializes in the production of electric cars, a technology many regard as crucial when it comes to reducing urban air pollution. While Tesla is focused on something that could have a key role to play in the planet's shift to more sustainable forms of transport, it is not immune from criticism., alleging racist harassment of and discrimination against Black workers that has persisted for years at the company's car assembly plant and other facilities in the state. Tesla has called the lawsuit "misguided."