ESG Practices Undergo Rebranding Amidst Political Backlash and Declining Support Among Young Investors

World Economic Forum Introduces 'Stakeholder Metrics' as Major Corporations Continue to Prioritize Sustainability Efforts

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is focusing on 'Rebuilding Trust' this year, with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices undergoing a rebranding amidst political backlash.
The WEF has launched an initiative called 'Stakeholder Metrics' to address criticisms of ESG, aiming to establish fair, universal metrics for factors like CO2 emissions, pay equality, and boardroom diversity.
Despite the rebranding, many major corporations such as Bank of America, Mastercard, Salesforce, PayPal, UBS, Nestlé, Unilever, and IBM have adopted the new Stakeholder Metrics system.
Regulatory pressure and the financial viability of sustainability efforts are key factors driving the continued momentum of corporate sustainability initiatives, despite the decline in the use of the term 'ESG'.
A recent survey shows a significant drop in support for ESG initiatives among young investors, with the percentage of those ages 18 to 41 who said they were 'very concerned about environmental issues' falling from 70 percent to 49 percent.