CEO’s love ESG — as long as it doesn’t affect profits. Then it’s blasé.
Despite U.S. companies championing their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments and results, many others are planning to suspend or reconsider their ESG efforts in the coming months over growing recession fears, according to a new report.
In August, KPMG published an in-depth report titled “2022 U.S. CEO Outlook.” It assessed a wide variety of issues facing businesses over the next 12 months, including economic turbulence, finding and retaining talent, and technological developments. The paper also looked at the ESG trend sweeping America and the rest of the world.
The authors pf the report noted that a majority of CEOs (79 percent) think the public will look to the private sector to address major social challenges rather than governments, be it climate change or income inequality.
But while this form of social investing has become integral in the private marketplace, organizations acknowledged that there is a demand for increased reporting and transparency on ESG issues, particularly as more of the public becomes skeptical over “virtue signaling” and “greenwashing.”
The former consists of a business expressing a specific moral viewpoint to communicate an impeccable character, typically one that favors an establishment talking point. The latter is when consumers are deceived into thinking a company’s products are environmentally friendly or socially responsible.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/ceos-cutting-back-or-pausing-their-esg-efforts-kpmg-study_4829375.html