Why ESG is here to stay (McKinsey & Co)

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are playing an increasing role in companies’ decisions around mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures ... factors link to corporate performance and deal potential ... fast-changing landscape … ESG is quite a broad set of issues, from the carbon dioxide footprint to labor practices to corruption ... performance on ESG metrics ... evidence is emerging that a better ESG score translates to about a 10 percent lower cost of capital, as the risks that affect your business are reduced ... There is no auditing of ESG data, so as a stakeholder you can’t be fully comfortable with its quality. If we compare this to financial reporting, we need to go back 100 years to find the same level of maturity ...

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/why-esg-is-here-to-stay