ESG, short for environmental, social, governance, has become front and center in corporate strategy. Most major companies, particularly the publicly traded corporations who have to respond to growing pressure from institutional investors, either have or are developing ESG plans.
But while there is an emerging ESG movement, there are enormous challenges in measuring and meeting the goals, primarily because of a lack of data. There are hundreds of organizations, associations, academic institutions and private companies that are working to create ESG standards in their respective industries, and all are facing data deficits. As such, ESG reports from leading corporations are often not complete and not standardized, but they are a step forward.
