Private Sector Opinion 32: This paper argues that the social factors that have driven increased voluntary environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure over the past three decades are sufficiently compelling to lead to mandated disclosure worldwide. Whether ESG data will then be fully integrated into corporate management and investment practices ultimately depends on the willingness of governments, stock exchanges, and the accounting profession—along with corporations, investors, consumers, and other members of society—to acknowledge the essential role these data can play in bringing about the alignment of market forces with society’s interests.
By Steve Lydenberg, a partner in Strategic Vision for Domini Social Investments, a founding director of the Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Hauser Institute for Civil Society at Harvard University, and an author of “Reason, Rationality and Fiduciary Duty” and “On Materiality and Sustainability: The Value of Disclosure in the Capital Markets”.
Foreword by David Pitt-Watson, an executive fellow at the London Business School, and co-chair of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative.
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