{"componentChunkName":"component---src-gatsby-entities-reflection-tsx","path":"/perspectives/rethinking-the-sustainability-and-esg-landscape-villars-rapporteur-report","result":{"data":{"platform":{"reflection":{"id":"6810bc3334279d2cbf773956","slug":"rethinking-the-sustainability-and-esg-landscape-villars-rapporteur-report","path":"/perspectives/rethinking-the-sustainability-and-esg-landscape-villars-rapporteur-report","name":"Rethinking the Sustainability and ESG Landscape: Villars Rapporteur Report","name_fr":null,"title":null,"title_fr":null,"pretitle":null,"pretitle_fr":null,"subtitle":null,"subtitle_fr":null,"published":"2025-06-13T09:15:04.53","edited":null,"content":{"plain":"Ideas from the Speakers\nA panel of experts explored the shifting political and economic landscape of sustainability and ESG, emphasizing the need to reframe ESG as a driver of value creation, regulatory adaptation, and systemic business innovation. \nDiscussion initially highlighted the fragmentation, capital flow restrictions, and regulatory and policy uncertainty in today’s financial landscape, as the US-led system of free trade and dollar dominance fades, while the group of countries known as BRICS+—particularly China—emerge as technological leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) and global resource control. \nAdditionally, the session examined the specific outlook for businesses with regard to sustainability. Businesses, especially small ones, face regulatory overburdening that stifles progress, which calls for a transformation to more effective and less burdensome regulations. Also, companies must decide whether to compete or comply with sustainability regulations. Nevertheless, sustainability is no longer just about compliance. It is a competitive advantage that can drive cost savings, pricing power, consumer loyalty, investor confidence, and operational efficiencies. \nThe session touched on other hurdles we currently face. One is the use of jargon and acronyms; both being noted as unhelpful and meaningless for individuals outside their respective technical space. Moreover, ESG frameworks are outdated and insufficient in driving real change. It is difficult to retrofit sustainability into existing structures, so it must be embedded into business models from the beginning. \nUnfortunately, not enough people frame it as “sustainability for value creation”; therefore, it was emphasized that we must (re)shape a narrative that connects with everyone (and their concerns) and that provides not only consumers with meaningful information but also companies and investors, as they require clear financial incentives to ultimately adopt sustainable practices. \nThe concept of “sustainability for value creation” was broken down into four sections: \nDirect benefits:\n\nPremium pricing power\nConsumer appeal, engagement, and loyalty\nNew revenue streams \n\nCost savings:\n\nOperational efficiencies \nResource and supply chain optimization \nRegulatory cost reduction \n\nIndirect benefits: \n\nSupply chain resilience \nTalent retention \nInvestor confidence \n\nCost of inaction:\n\nReputational risks \nClimate-related resource risks \nCompetitive risks \n\nOne final notion raised was coined “reset, reengage.” This concept urges businesses and policymakers to proactively reassess strategies or risk being forced to adapt after political and economic failures. \nInsights from the Audience\nFollowing the insightful presentations, participants engaged in a dynamic exchange, probing deeper into the key challenges and opportunities we face, especially noting and further emphasizing how ESG is an outdated and ineffective system. \nOne challenge that arose was navigating sustainability in an unsustainable market. Although the landscape is shifting, systemic change is slow. It was agreed that the market lacks urgency and regulatory support, such as unintended consequences of regulations which create barriers, oftentimes leading to greenhushing. \nAnother problem under discussion was aligning profitability with impact, and the pushback in the adoption of game-changing innovation. Investors are reluctant to fund non-revenue-generating sustainability efforts and are risk-averse and hesitant to back emerging sustainable technologies. Nevertheless, some industries show that circular-economy approaches can be both profitable and impactful. One striking example was a jewelry shop that recycled stones sold by customers and repurposed them to be resold by the business, effectively benefiting every stakeholder. Also, the audience strongly agreed that companies must embed sustainability into business models from the start, rather than retrofitting it later to help align profitability with impact. \nThe roundtable discussions also delved briefly into the role of AI and the business sector in creating a more sustainable future. AI has the potential to improve transparency and help hold companies more accountable through more efficient data processing. In addition, having businesses focus on their areas of highest influence—based on their competencies, industry, and operational strengths—was agreed to be more effective and prevents them from spreading their efforts too thinly. \nFinally, some individuals raised the point of restructuring ESG and reframing it as an opportunity. ESG must shift towards value creation, cost reduction, and financial integration (for example, getting nature on the balance sheet). Businesses should lobby for positive regulatory shifts and view ESG as a major growth opportunity rather than a compliance burden. Concrete examples like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive are steps forward yet must become more effective. \n","text":"## Ideas from the Speakers\n\nA panel of experts explored the shifting political and economic landscape of sustainability and ESG, emphasizing the need to reframe ESG as a driver of value creation, regulatory adaptation, and systemic business innovation. \n\nDiscussion initially highlighted the fragmentation, capital flow restrictions, and regulatory and policy uncertainty in today’s financial landscape, as the US-led system of free trade and dollar dominance fades, while the group of countries known as [BRICS+](https://www.bricsplus.com/)—particularly China—emerge as technological leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) and global resource control. \n\nAdditionally, the session examined the specific outlook for businesses with regard to sustainability. Businesses, especially small ones, face regulatory overburdening that stifles progress, which calls for a transformation to more effective and less burdensome regulations. Also, companies must decide whether to compete or comply with sustainability regulations. Nevertheless, sustainability is no longer just about compliance. It is a competitive advantage that can drive cost savings, pricing power, consumer loyalty, investor confidence, and operational efficiencies. \n\nThe session touched on other hurdles we currently face. One is the use of jargon and acronyms; both being noted as unhelpful and meaningless for individuals outside their respective technical space. Moreover, ESG frameworks are outdated and insufficient in driving real change. It is difficult to retrofit sustainability into existing structures, so it must be embedded into business models from the beginning. \n\nUnfortunately, not enough people frame it as “sustainability for value creation”; therefore, it was emphasized that we must (re)shape a narrative that connects with everyone (and their concerns) and that provides not only consumers with meaningful information but also companies and investors, as they require clear financial incentives to ultimately adopt sustainable practices. \n\nThe concept of “sustainability for value creation” was broken down into four sections: \n\n*Direct benefits:*\n* Premium pricing power\n* Consumer appeal, engagement, and loyalty\n* New revenue streams \n\n*Cost savings:*\n* Operational efficiencies \n* Resource and supply chain optimization \n* Regulatory cost reduction \n\n*Indirect benefits:* \n* Supply chain resilience \n* Talent retention \n* Investor confidence \n\n*Cost of inaction:*\n* Reputational risks \n* Climate-related resource risks \n* Competitive risks \n\nOne final notion raised was coined “reset, reengage.” This concept urges businesses and policymakers to proactively reassess strategies or risk being forced to adapt after political and economic failures. \n\n## Insights from the Audience \n\nFollowing the insightful presentations, participants engaged in a dynamic exchange, probing deeper into the key challenges and opportunities we face, especially noting and further emphasizing how ESG is an outdated and ineffective system. \n\nOne challenge that arose was navigating sustainability in an unsustainable market. Although the landscape is shifting, systemic change is slow. It was agreed that the market lacks urgency and regulatory support, such as unintended consequences of regulations which create barriers, oftentimes leading to [greenhushing](https://www.fastcompany.com/90858144/what-is-green-hushing-the-new-negative-sustainability-trend-explained). \n\nAnother problem under discussion was aligning profitability with impact, and the pushback in the adoption of game-changing innovation. Investors are reluctant to fund non-revenue-generating sustainability efforts and are risk-averse and hesitant to back emerging sustainable technologies. Nevertheless, some industries show that circular-economy approaches can be both profitable and impactful. One striking example was a jewelry shop that recycled stones sold by customers and repurposed them to be resold by the business, effectively benefiting every stakeholder. Also, the audience strongly agreed that companies must embed sustainability into business models from the start, rather than retrofitting it later to help align profitability with impact. \n\nThe roundtable discussions also delved briefly into the role of AI and the business sector in creating a more sustainable future. AI has the potential to improve transparency and help hold companies more accountable through more efficient data processing. In addition, having businesses focus on their areas of highest influence—based on their competencies, industry, and operational strengths—was agreed to be more effective and prevents them from spreading their efforts too thinly. \n\nFinally, some individuals raised the point of restructuring ESG and reframing it as an opportunity. ESG must shift towards value creation, cost reduction, and financial integration (for example, getting nature on the balance sheet). Businesses should lobby for positive regulatory shifts and view ESG as a major growth opportunity rather than a compliance burden. Concrete examples like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive are steps forward yet must become more effective. "},"content_fr":{"plain":"","text":""},"openGraph":{"title":null,"description":{"plain":"ShareAction recently published that only 4 out of 279 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions put forward at annual general meetings last year in the UK, Europe, and the US secured majority support. The following is the rapporteur report of an expert discussion convened under the Chatham House rule. The author is a Villars Fellow.\n"},"image":{"url2x":null,"thumbnails":{"card":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_480/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_960/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg"},"mainBanner":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_1440/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_2880/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg"}}}},"challenge":null,"color":null,"typeLabel":"New View","intro":{"plain":"ShareAction recently published that only 4 out of 279 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions put forward at annual general meetings last year in the UK, Europe, and the US secured majority support. The following is the rapporteur report of an expert discussion convened under the Chatham House rule. The author is a Villars Fellow.\n","text":"*[ShareAction](https://shareaction.org/)* recently published that only 4 out of 279 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions put forward at annual general meetings last year in the UK, Europe, and the US secured majority support. The following is the rapporteur report of an expert discussion convened under the Chatham House rule. The author is a Villars Fellow."},"intro_fr":{"plain":"","text":""},"outro":{"text":"### The Author \n\nJorin Lowrance is a Villars Fellows and assigned as an official rapporteur of the 2025 Villars Institute Summit. "},"outro_fr":{"text":""},"videos":[],"imageAssets":[],"organisations":[],"challenges":[],"authors":[{"id":"65d547fdd5bcca2bcbc9e987","name":"Jorin Lowrance","slug":"jorin-lowrance","role":{"id":"rol_m02v21Sk7a2hKGj7","name":"Fellow"},"isMember":true,"bio":{"id":"65d547fdd5bcca2bcbc9e987_bio","text":"As a Villars Fellow of the 2022 Cohort at the Villars Institute, Jorin has a distinguished track record of engagement in global sustainability dialogue served as a rapporteur at the 2024 and 2025 Villars Summits, and at the 2025 GESDA Summit at CERN. His insights have been widely shared through four articles in the Villars Review and a published piece on the GESDA website. Deeply committed to climate action and systems thinking, Jorin also serves as a Youth Representative in Systems Thinking and Sustainability Design Teams at Ecolint and interned with the founder of the regenerative agriculture startup Bison Underground. Furthermore, he is the lead organizer of the FutureTechExpo—a 'Tech for Good' themed event that hosted over 200 participants—and the founder and creator of the Bite Me Podcast, which has explored the policies, innovations, and leaders shaping the climate and sustainability landscape across five episodes since June 2025. Lastly, Jorin is a Glacier Ambassador for the Project Baseline Glacier Intiative.\n","html":"<p>As a Villars Fellow of the 2022 Cohort at the Villars Institute, Jorin has a distinguished track record of engagement in global sustainability dialogue served as a rapporteur at the 2024 and 2025 Villars Summits, and at the 2025 GESDA Summit at CERN. His insights have been widely shared through four articles in the Villars Review and a published piece on the GESDA website. Deeply committed to climate action and systems thinking, Jorin also serves as a Youth Representative in Systems Thinking and Sustainability Design Teams at Ecolint and interned with the founder of the regenerative agriculture startup Bison Underground. Furthermore, he is the lead organizer of the FutureTechExpo—a &#39;Tech for Good&#39; themed event that hosted over 200 participants—and the founder and creator of the Bite Me Podcast, which has explored the policies, innovations, and leaders shaping the climate and sustainability landscape across five episodes since June 2025. Lastly, Jorin is a Glacier Ambassador for the Project Baseline Glacier Intiative.</p>\n"},"organisation":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9e019","name":"International School of Geneva"},"linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorin-lowrance-555647314/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BwThQB2AvS3GFByfSSejzzg%3D%3D","photo":{"id":"image_villars-institute/person/jorin-lowrance_photo__Scuba_diving_picture_of_me___2022_06_11_17_23_53_lxwpyt","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1668990708/villars-institute/person/jorin-lowrance_photo__Scuba_diving_picture_of_me___2022_06_11_17_23_53_lxwpyt.jpg","url2x":null},"positions":[{"id":"65d547e2d5bcca2bcbc9e3d0","primary":null,"positions":[{"id":"65d54818d5bcca2bcbc9f2ce","name":"Student","name_fr":null}],"organisation":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9e019","name":"International School of Geneva"}}]}],"people":[],"embeds":{"citations":[],"advertisements":[],"pages":[],"people":[],"imageAssets":[]},"banner":{"id":"6810ba8f34279d2cbf77393f","name":"ESG","slug":"esg","title":null,"description":{"text":""},"alternateText":null,"image":{"id":"image_villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg","url2x":null,"width":4000,"height":2667,"thumbnails":{"id":"thumbnails-file_villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p","mainBanner":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_1440/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_2880/v1745926782/villars-institute/banner/esg_image__54398600287_6f091718e4_o_ufwu7p.jpg"}}}}}}},"pageContext":{"lang":{"id":"en","path":"","iso":"en","name":"English","label":"English"},"availableEntities":["Challenge","Page","Post","Reflection","Video","Podcast","Event"],"detailEntities":["Challenge","Page","Post","Reflection","Video"],"site":{"id":"683e8bff7c32c7910387b3d5","slug":"villars-review","name":"Villars Review","url":"https://villarsreview.org","title":null,"twitter":"https://twitter.com/VillarsIdeas","threads":null,"facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/villarsinstitute","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-villars-institute/","instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/villarsinstitute/","flickr":"https://www.flickr.com/people/195926075@N05/","tiktok":"https://www.tiktok.com/@villarsinstitute","youtube":null,"ownerName":"Villars Institute","recaptchaKey":"6Lc7c1crAAAAADUXSkkV_0zMMbEZ2qQMtw2gMAVM","googleSiteVerification":"GqkDXBfnLuGbzO9gmQM8_4BpSOVP4ZPITWqdFJibuww","platformName":"The Villars Institute Community Platform","platformUrl":"https://community.villarsinstitute.org","supportEmail":null,"contactEmail":null,"mainMenu":{"id":"6840fbbed6341c85fc259cdf","slug":"villars-review-navigation"},"linearMenu":null,"entityViews":[],"entityAppViews":[],"entityOnboardingViews":[],"gptLanguages":[],"gptQuestionTemplate":null,"advertisements":[],"logoVerticalOffset":null,"logoHorizontalOffset":null,"logoVerticalOffsetMobile":null,"logoHorizontalOffsetMobile":null,"logoVerticalOffsetTablet":null,"logoHorizontalOffsetTablet":null,"logoVerticalOffsetDesktop":null,"logoHorizontalOffsetDesktop":null,"logoHeightMobile":null,"logoHeightTablet":null,"logoHeightDesktop":null,"headerHeightMobile":null,"headerHeightTablet":null,"headerHeightDesktop":null,"logo":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1749086205/villars-institute/site/villars-review_logo__villars-logo_dsjrab.png","type":"image/png","width":708,"height":207},"logoInverted":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1749086215/villars-institute/site/villars-review_logoInverted__villars-logo-inverted_mi8gbd.png","type":"image/png","width":708,"height":207},"footerMenu":{"id":"6840fbbed6341c85fc259cdf","slug":"villars-review-navigation"},"footerSecondaryMenu":null,"footerContent":{"text":""},"creator":null,"poweredBy":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9e0d0","name":"Shapeable","slug":"shapeable","url":"https://shapeable.ai","logo":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1684216592/villars/organisation/shapeable_logo__shapeable-logo_yd2tkk.png.png","type":"image/png","width":612,"height":186},"logoInverted":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1684216599/villars/organisation/shapeable_logoInverted__shapeable-logo-inverted_mltax4.png.png","type":"image/png","width":612,"height":186},"logoSubtle":null},"poweredByLabel":null,"poweredByContent":{"text":""},"explorerPage":null,"termsPage":{"name":"Terms Of Use - 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