Sharing their hatred of ESG is the Sustainability Flat Earthers (the Flat Earthers). Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Representation of a rectangular flat Earth model on white background with shadow. The Taliban think, as one commentator crisply noted, that “ESG is b.s.” They object to the confounding of the terms ESG and sustainability, which I agree are separate concepts but not the concern of most people trying to make a decent living in a decent way. I then wrote a response to these cantankerous critics. I posted this on LinkedIn and it became my most viewed post by far with many comments, a large number of which were negative to vitriolic personal attacks. I had a hint they existed but their existence became crystal clear to me in an innocuous article I wrote with Bhakti Mirchandani in the Harvard Business Review explaining why companies should support the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Let’s start with the set of the Sustainability Taliban (the Taliban). (Photo by Mir Ahmad Firooz Mashoof/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Afghanistan, on Augas Taliban take control of Afghanistan after 20 years. HERAT, AFGHANISTAN - AUGUST 18: Taliban patrol in Herat city after took control in Herat. ESG is now under vicious attack, and it is fascinating to observe how broad the spectrum is of those who hate the idea-although those who do so infuse it with a meaning convenient to their world view. It then went mainstream and in a short period of time ESG investing, based on companies that “cared” about ESG, was seen as a magical elixir, a way for people to make the world a better place and earn superior returns at the same time. When the term was explained to the uninitiated, the knee jerk response was that paying attention to ESG (or certainly the E and S parts) was a way for companies and investors to lose money. In its early days only those interested in sustainability knew what the acronym meant.
A Google Trends chart shows the term getting fairly little worldwide attention from 2004 to 2016 when the slope began to increase and really started to spike up in 2019.
At that time the somewhat awkward acronym of ESG (for environmental, social, and governance) was just beginning to be bandied about.