Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this session, I look at the rise of corporate sustainability as a business imperative, both in practice and academia, and argue that it shares many characteristics with ESG, a concept that has drawn fire justifiably for over promising and under delivering. Both concepts (ESG & Sustainability) are opaque, have their roots in virtue, emphasize disclosure and standards over actions and underplay or ignore the sacrifice that is inherent in businesses aspiring to do good. I also look at what needs to happen for sustainability to be salvaged starting with being clear eyes about the activities that businesses can be called upon to take and the costs of these activities and cleaning out the gravy train of grifters who have made this space their own.
Slides: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pdf/blog/Sustainability.pdf
Blog post:
In this session, I look at the rise of corporate sustainability as a business imperative, both in practice and academia, and argue that it shares many characteristics with ESG, a concept that has drawn fire justifiably for over promising and under delivering. Both concepts (ESG & Sustainability) are opaque, have their roots in virtue, emphasize disclosure and standards over actions and underplay or ignore the sacrifice that is inherent in businesses aspiring to do good. I also look at what needs to happen for sustainability to be salvaged starting with being clear eyes about the activities that businesses can be called upon to take and the costs of these activities and cleaning out the gravy train of grifters who have made this space their own.
Slides: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pdf/blog/Sustainability.pdf
Blog post:
