Holding on to the reigns: reducing instances of ESG decoupling

Abstract

Sustainability and corporate responsibility have become central themes for many organisations. This is because as market demands have changed to include sustainable practices as an important element for stakeholders, firms have begun to take this into consideration. Strategies that were solely focused on financial performance metrics have evolved into different aspects such as social, environmental and even cultural issues. This development has also meant changes in the reporting structures of businesses. As these additional elements need to be accounted for, they also need to be measured and reported. As new parameters emerge, there have been learning curves in the process of incorporating these to existing reporting mechanisms. Several challenges such as ambiguity of goals, targets that cannot be measured and even inexperienced personnel have all contributed to the slow progress. However, this does not mean that all is lost. As businesses continue to learn and grow in these areas, ideas on ways to improve are continuously discovered and experimented. It may seem like firms are grasping at straws at times, but any major development has its initial flaws. As long as organisations are willing to improve, there is still hope for better reporting standards and procedures for even these new business elements. Yang et al. (2024) sought to investigate the practices of environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals within publicly traded companies.