ESG is at a crossroads. Stakeholders have varying expectations, priorities, and requests. Standards are changing. Laws attempt to speak a single language but prescribe different activities and disclosures. Definitions of ESG vary among standards bodies, rating organizations, regulators, legislators, and investor stewardship groups. Some people advocate abandoning the term altogether in favor of other concepts such as sustainability, impact, or materiality. And there are those who say ESG is misguided–or even value-destroying.
However, ESG isn’t going away. Companies receive daily requests–and more recently, demands–for ESG information from investors, customers, regulators, and lenders. Speak to anyone advising corporate management, and they’ll tell you that the number of inquiries and requirements is increasing, not decreasing–and that the inquiries are becoming more insistent and the requirements more burdensome.
