Welcome to the ESG Evolution

The easy triumphalism about capitalism that ruled at the beginning of this century has given way to a much sharper debate about whether the system is a genuine wealth creator. Such talk has permeated conversation in the most elite business institutions. In both 2012 and 2016, the leaders of the World Economic Forum placed the future of capitalism at the heart of their annual agenda because, as founder Klaus Schwab put it, 'capitalism in its current form no longer fits the world around us'. Though no one disputes capitalism's raw force, the deeper issue is whether the free-market system, has been asking the wrong questions, examining the wrong data, reaching the wrong conclusions and pursuing the wrong goals.