A vibrant business landscape and thriving economy is only viable long-term if it prioritizes sustainability and justice-informed access to resources, capital, and opportunity for all. Assessing resource depletion and environmental impacts (“E”), analyzing social effects – like worker treatment, diversity, consumer safety, and community impacts (“S”), and adopting corporate governance that supports positive outcomes (“G”) are common-sense considerations for responsible business and investing practices and decisions. 

Unfortunately, the term ‘ESG’ has been highly politicized and faces intense scrutiny and backlash from powerful institutions that stand to lose investments and power as the momentum towards considering critical factors beyond short-term profits alone continues to grow. The bottom line: Businesses and investors should have the freedom to consider ESG and other risk factors when making their decisions.