Is Sustainability and ESG Reporting the Same Thing?

Sustainability is a blanket term—a catch-all for any company’s efforts to “do better.” ESG, on the other hand, spotlights three specific pillars that are crucial to today’s business managers and investors.

ESG — or “environmental, social, governance” — has become the preferred term for capital markets. That type of data is often used to identify superior risk-adjusted returns. But ESG has recently become a familiar acronym throughout many industries.

“Sustainability” can mean just about anything under the broad rubric of “doing well by doing good.” This makes it a convenient yet inaccurate substitute for other related but distinct terms like “corporate responsibility,” “triple bottom line,” and the old standby, “green.”