What is ESG2?
As the former United Nations official who coined ESG in May 2004, TBCG Founder Paul Clements-Hunt, has given more than two decades of thinking and practice in his work around the world on how to maximise ESG impact to unlock value.
ESG2, launched in January 2025, is a new approach to handling risk and discovering new opportunities for institutions across the public, private and civil society realms. See the ESG2 paper under The Flow section to help understand the power of this approach.
ESG1.0 Systemic
How effective is your understanding of Complex Converging Systemic Risks (CCSRTM) and how is it integrated into strategic thinking? Are CCSR – such as: social inequality, climate change, ecosystems destruction, food insecurity, water stress, geo-politics, populism, conflict, resource wars – seen as a risk to endure or a novel opportunity if addressed?
ESG2.0 Sectoral
Where does your company/ institution stand in comparison to peers in terms of employing the ESG risk and opportunity lenses to unlock value and build resilience?
ESG3.0 Company
How are you operationalising ESG thinking and approaches to maximum effect on an institution-wide basis?
ESG4.0 Executive
As an individual staff member, whether Board, Senior Executive or operational, are your own values aligned with the institutions? Is your voice heard? Can ESG 4.0 help you connect Board thinking with institution-wide action to promote dynamic Governance?
ESG is dead, long live ESG…
ESG 4.0 is, in part, a response to the vicious “ESG backlash” and suggestions that ESG is Dead? A few points on that:
- The acronym does not matter: whether ESG, GES, SGE, whatever, the risks and opportunities will remain
- ESG should not be seen as three separate E & S & G pillars but rather as a singular block, perhaps a Rubik’s Cube with different risks and opportunities converging in new ways as the nature of risk changes.
- The fundamental purpose of ESG – when originated in 2004 – was to speed culture change and trigger new thinking in the worlds largest asset owners.
- ESG4.0 returns to the idea of institutional culture change to empower organisations to manage challenges and seize opportunities more effectively. As the nature of risk changes, ESG4.0 enables our clients to unlock value.