The rise and fall of ESG

Just a few short years ago, it felt as though the principle of environmental, social and governance (ESG) had achieved something close to permanence. Sustainability was deeply embedded in investment strategies across developed markets, permeating annual reports, stewardship statements and the very language of risk and return. Indeed, new jobs and whole industries were born of this omnipresent pursuit of ESG investing.

Fast forward to today, and the mood has decisively shifted. The acronym still circulates, but its connotations are far more widely varied. ESG’s so-called ‘five seconds of fame’ lasted, in literal terms, less than a decade.

How did something so dominant become something so debatable?

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