As the world grapples with various macro-scale challenges such as environmental sustainability, social inequality, and ethical business governance, businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their strategic decision-making.
By integrating ESG into their business strategy, companies can unlock a wide range of benefits, from enhanced long-term financial performance and improved risk management, to increased brand reputation and stakeholder trust.
However, although approximately 80% of businesses recognize the importance of ESG business strategy for their brand and reputation, only around one in ten of those have developed a fully realized ESG strategy.1
This suggests a substantial disconnect between awareness around the potential benefits of ESG within a business context, and the ability or willingness to formulate and implement actionable strategies from which to benefit.
Recent studies also indicate a lack of knowledge about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in boardrooms, highlighting the urgent need for ESG education not only for CEOs and board members, but also for ESG managers who play a key role in implementing the strategies.
The industry is evolving quickly and new ESG regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) only emphasize the need for company leaders to be informed and able to effectively integrate ESG into their business strategies.2
What is ESG advisory and why does it matter?
One of the ways in which to drive sustainable success and fuel long-term business growth is by integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies via expert ESG advisory services.
These ESG advisory services address the knowledge and skills gaps often found within organizations, and typically focus on guiding companies through the process of identifying, assessing, and addressing key ESG factors that are relevant to their industry and operations.
ESG advisory services are also often tasked with helping businesses stay ahead of evolving ESG regulations, such as those set by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), for example. Other key projects regularly include developing and implementing effective ESG policies, and establishing robust ESG metrics to measure and monitor company ESG performance.
The key idea is that by utilizing ESG advisory expertise to successfully integrate ESG policies into their business strategy, companies can better manage ESG risks, capitalize on opportunities, and drive long-term sustainable growth.
Future-proofing your business with ESG advisory
Various ways exist in which an ESG advisory can help to future-proof a business. These include:
- Identifying and mitigating current and future ESG risks
- Spotting opportunities for ESG-related innovation and growth (eg. developing sustainable products and services)
- Guiding business leadership in investing in the creation of healthy relationships with their stakeholders and managing stakeholder expectations
One further increasingly important and visible way of future-proofing is assisting companies in dealing with rapidly evolving ESG regulations.

Adapting to changing regulations and market demands
The ESG regulatory environment is becoming increasingly complex, with a growing array of global and regional frameworks, standards, and regulations which are coming to bear upon businesses, either now or in the future.
These include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), California’s SB 253 and SB 261 senate bills, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rules, and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), among others.
By providing analysis and education on current and emerging ESG regulations, and ensuring that companies understand and can meet any relevant compliance obligations, ESG advisory services can play a key role in helping businesses navigate this complex arena.
The role of ESG in building resilient, growth-oriented organizations
We’ve covered the key ways in which ESG advisory services can help organizations deal with various sustainability-related pressures and regulations, so now let’s explore how incorporating robust ESG practices can make a difference to overall business resilience and growth.
Resilience can be defined as the ability to effectively withstand challenges and difficulties. Implementing ESG facilitates organizational resilience in several key areas:
- Risk identification: ESG frameworks enable companies to assess and prioritize various current and potential business risks, such as climate risks, regulatory developments, and deteriorating stakeholder trust and engagement.
- Compliance: By staying abreast of the latest developments and sustainability requirements, organizations are less likely to be caught unawares and face non-compliance penalties.
- Supply chain: Responsible investment into ethical sourcing practices and robust stakeholder relations in terms of sustainability reporting can help strengthen business supply chains and make them less prone to disruption.
While the above mentioned areas can positively impact an organization’s growth prospects, the following are more specifically ‘growth-oriented’ in terms of ESG implementation benefits.
- Brand and reputation: As ‘being green’ becomes increasingly aspirational, becoming known as a company that stands for ethical sustainability and is transparent about ESG issues can have a positive knock-on effect in terms of sales growth and word-of-mouth advertising.
Innovation and competitive advantage: By catering to changing consumer demands and stakeholder expectations for sustainability-related products and services, organizations can innovate and create a competitive head start for themselves in new market segments.
Strategic pillars of ESG for long-term growth
Although ESG is a broad topic comprising many facets of sustainability, there are several key pillars that can be identified and focused upon when looking to ensure the long-term viability and growth of an organization. The first three correspond to the environmental, social, and governance components in the ESG acronym.
Environmental
What actions is the organization undertaking related to environmental sustainability and stewardship? These would typically include items like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint, effectively managing waste via recycling and upcycling programs, minimizing air, soil, and water pollution, and increasingly switching to green/renewable sources of energy.
Social
The main objective here is fostering positive social relationships with employees, local communities, and other stakeholder groups. Actions undertaken would center around ensuring diversity and inclusion, ethical labor standards, employee health and wellbeing, and investment in community and charitable initiatives.
Governance
Accountability, ethical decision-making, and transparency within a business leadership context are the key points of emphasis. This extends to areas such as business finances and financial reporting, executive and leadership compensation, human resource policies, cybersecurity and data protection, tax transparency, and overall organizational integrity culture.
Additional strategic areas may include those related to risk mitigation and innovation.
- Risk mitigation: Identification of ESG-related factors that could negatively impact business stability and sustainability, such as negative events related to climate risks, supply chain disruptions, and reputational fallout due to environmentally damaging/non-sustainable business practices.
Innovation: In contrast to risk mitigation, this involves seeking out opportunities to develop goods and services to harness growing consumer awareness and appetite for sustainable products and technologies.

Measuring ESG impact on business growth
Correctly implementing ESG strategies and actions can impact business growth in multiple ways. McKinsey analysis indicates that financially successful companies that integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) priorities into their growth strategies outperform their peers — provided they also outperform on the fundamentals.3
Financial metrics that can be used to measure the impact of ESG strategy and actions on business growth include:
- Return on investment (ROI) from ESG-related investments (eg. sustainable supply chain investment)
- Revenue growth from newly introduced sustainable products or services
- Cost savings achieved from energy efficient practices and renewables
- Avoided costs and financial impacts due to successful ESG-related risk management and mitigation efforts
In conclusion, ESG advisory will play an increasingly important role in helping companies navigate complex regulatory environments, capitalize on opportunities, and strengthen any blind spots or weaknesses revealed by the evolving sustainability industry. By incorporating consultancy advice and successfully integrating ESG strategy and principles into their business strategies, organizations can begin to unlock long-term growth, resilience, and profitability.