Vickey de Villiers

Over the past ten years, there have been positive moves in South Africa’s corporate sector regarding strategic decision-making on ESG (environmental, social and governance) matters, but research carried out by Henley Business School and Risk Insights, reveals that this is not translating into significant strategic change or innovation. ESG remains just skin deep and is not yielding the kind of impact that South Africa, which is the most unequal country on the planet, needs.

After a decade of growth, environmental, social & governance (ESG) investment is facing a mountain of challenges globally, from net outflows of ESG funds towards the end of 2023 to mounting negative scrutiny, fuelled in part by economic pressures such as rising inflation and the rise in populism in some parts of the world. This is mirrored in the SA context.