ESG: new concept for old problems

Abstract

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly permeating companies' decisions on practices and expectations of society and stakeholders regarding companies' performance and returns. ESG refers to a comprehensive set of issues, from the carbon dioxide footprint to labor practices and corruption, which justify the creation of criteria and practices that guide the role and responsibility of businesses toward ESG factors.The acronym ESG appeared in the report "Who Cares Wins," launched in 2005 as an outcome of an initiative led by the UN to offer guidelines and recommendations on how to address environmental, social, and governance issues in the management of assets, security brokerage services, and related research. However, the theoretical basis and conceptual justifications of most ESG studies -academic or not -are older than that and refer to corporate social responsibility (CSR).