The Ethics of ESG : Critically Assessing the Environmental, Social and Governance Movement

While the prevailing view of ESG limits the assessment of social and environmental challenges to financial criteria, this volume examines nonfinancial issues such as climate change, human rights, and corruption. New ethical interpretations of the ESG movement are essential to drive future social, political and legal developments.

In recent years, new forms of investment have been created to direct funds towards companies performing well according to predefined environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators. This volume addresses moral, political, and legal questions about the legitimacy of ESG as a management and investment strategy. Some chapters argue that ESG strategies should focus on creating real-life impacts on morally significant problems, such as climate change, human rights violations, and corporate corruption. Other chapters instead examine the possibility that the long-term feasibility of ESG limits its moral ambitions, requiring ESG to be regarded as only a set of devices for minimizing risk in a way that protects financial gain. The book contributes a much-needed understanding of ethical interpretations of the ESG movement, which are likely to drive future social, political and legal developments.