GPRC for Sustainability & ESG: A Tale of Two Futures: Star Trek or Blade Runner?
In nearly every organization I speak with, sustainability and ESG are now part of the conversation. Not just in annual reports or investor decks, but in strategy sessions, risk workshops, board discussions, and even operational resilience planning. The reasons vary — regulations, investor expectations, customer demands, talent attraction, reputational pressure — but the direction is unmistakable. ESG has moved from “nice to have” into the territory of “must govern.”
And yet, despite the attention, there is still a persistent disconnect. Many organizations are doing ESG, reporting ESG, and talking ESG, but they struggle to manage ESG as a unified capability that truly influences decisions, shapes performance, and stands up to scrutiny. Too often, ESG remains a collection of initiatives rather than an operating model. It becomes a patchwork of programs and metrics, rather than a command framework that can guide the enterprise through uncertainty.
This is why I often use an analogy in presentations that seems to resonate with executives and practitioners alike: a tale of two futures.
- One future looks like . . .
[The rest of this blog can be read on the Corporater blog, where GRC 20/20’s Michael Rasmussen is a Guest Blogger]