Environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements can open up new career and business opportunities for women, but poorly designed compliance systems may place disproportionate burdens on women-owned enterprises, speakers said at a seminar held at United International University (UIU) on 18 August 2026. The event, titled “Navigating ESG & Climate Mandates: Risks and Rewards for Female Professionals and Women-Owned Firms,” was organised by UIU’s School of Business and Economics (SoBE) as the third instalment in its monthly NEXUS Seminar Series.
Delivering the keynote lecture, Dr Afifa Raihana, senior environmental specialist at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), explained how ESG and climate-related requirements are reshaping business strategy, investment decisions, market access, competitiveness and long-term resilience. She pointed to new career openings for women in fields such as environmental and social management, cleaner production, renewable energy, ESG reporting, sustainable finance, environmental consulting and climate-risk assessment, stressing that technical knowledge needed to be paired with communication skills, stakeholder engagement and policy literacy to capitalise on them.
Dr Raihana also warned that complex environmental and social compliance requirements can impose disproportionate costs on women-owned firms with limited access to finance, information and technical expertise. Even so, she argued that effective compliance can strengthen business credibility and open doors to corporate supply chains, export markets, public procurement and sustainability-linked finance.
The keynote was followed by a panel discussion featuring three professionals from the healthcare, construction and education sectors. Priti Chakraborty, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), emphasised the importance of aligning academic education with real-world sustainability practices to better prepare young people for changing workplace and business requirements.
Fahima Shahadat, country manager for Bangladesh at Menard Group (France), drew on her experience in the male-dominated construction industry to discuss the professional and social barriers facing women seeking to enter technical fields and advance into leadership roles. She called for stronger collaboration among universities, employers, policymakers and professional networks to help women professionals and women-led businesses keep pace with evolving global standards.
Sabrina Shaheed, principal of Sir John Wilson School, underscored the importance of introducing environmental responsibility, entrepreneurship and leadership development before students reach university, arguing that schools can help girls build confidence, problem-solving abilities and responsible risk-taking from an early age.
Professor M Niaz Asadullah, convenor and moderator of the NEXUS Seminar Series, said in a press release that NEXUS was created to bridge academic learning and professional practice by bringing leading industry experts and practitioners into direct conversation with UIU students and faculty. He added that the ESG transition illustrated precisely why this bridge was necessary, since universities had to prepare students not only to understand emerging global standards but also to apply them in ways that support competitiveness and inclusive growth.
Professor Salma Karim, director of the BBA Programme at UIU, delivered the welcome remarks. The event concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session involving students, faculty members, researchers and representatives from the corporate sector. The NEXUS Seminar Series will continue on a monthly basis, bringing together academic knowledge, international evidence and professional experience to examine emerging challenges affecting business, the economy and society.
