ESG Data: Measuring the Triple Bottom Line

At this week's Commit Forum in New York, it was reported that Bloomberg's ESG data site's traffic has increased by 50% over the last year. Bloomberg, a leading financial reporting firm started publishing this data over two years ago to increase accessibility to the reporting of firms efforts to integrate environmental, social, and governance data into their reports to investors. As mentioned in this Harvard Business Review blog from 2009, I too wonder if it clear that consumers and more importantly investors care enough about corporate practices to convince investors that this is anything more than a short-term "sustainability" trend? As a student that has been involved in several organizations advocating for increased sustainable practices both in the non-profit and for profit communities, I am skeptical of most sustainability efforts. Until you convince businesses that there is a link between social responsibility and a positive return on investment the sustainability movement will not be taken seriously. Advocates need to acknowledge and embrace data and evidence based management in order to give themselves the authority that is respected with the private sector. Such advocacy efforts in themselves are unsustainable unless more progress can be made in aligning words with action as discussed in this week's Funding Gap article.