ESG Is in Its Flop Era
Despite a pullback amid political hostility, investors and business leaders still recognize that corporate behavior that benefits the environment also benefits the bottom line.
It may not feel like it at the moment, but investors know that going green is still a good way to make money.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergAs a concept, environmentally responsible investing is in its flop era. Right-wing backlash has turned “ESG” into a four-letter word in terrified corporate boardrooms. Donald “Drill, Baby, Drill” Trump is returning to the White House. Bitcoin, possibly the least environmentally responsible investment on the planet, is at $100,000 and climbing.
But the flop is always floppiest before the dawn, as the kids (absolutely do not) say. Whisper it, but investors and business leaders are still checking the math and recognizing that corporate behavior that benefits the environment also benefits the bottom line that Milton Friedman told them to value above all else.