The Why Podcast: Why should we be thinking of ESG as something niche?

In this episode of The Why Podcast, Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, discusses his recent paper ‘The end of ESG’. Its title was deliberately provocative and caused a stir – but the point he was making was that a fundamental part of understanding a company and its operations is understanding its impact on the environment and the world. ESG has been politicised and linked to identity but a more useful starting point might be to get beyond polarised opinions and instead take a deeper look at what creates long-term value for shareholders and society. 

Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School and author of Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit. His TED talk ‘What to Trust in a Post-Truth World’ and TEDx talks The Pie-Growing Mindset and The Social Responsibility of Business have a combined 2.5 million views. He teaches on the MBA programme.