ESG and purpose

theHRDirector magazine (August 2024; Issue 238) kindly invited me to contribute my thoughts – this time upon ESG and purpose – drawn from the research and analysis of my various books including my first The Independent Director. 

For copyright reasons, I can’t post this article but, instead, wanted to share a few points raised in my article below.

 

 

My article looks at how good ESG scores play a strong part in a wide variety of investment decisions. 

 

We already know that SEC ESG regulations will increase the burden of administrative, data collection and analysis costs as well as potential legal jeopardy, irrespective of the ESG metrics used. 

 

This spells possible trouble ahead given the reputation and integrity of ESG financial reporting. 

 

A quick rule of thumb for both sincerity and greenwashing alike is to look at how the language companies use around environmentally led investment decision-making is changing but also how they report ESG activities in official financial statements.