Responsibilization of Business and the Informational Ethics of ESG

In this article I argue that the ethics of ESG must be understood as inseparable from the modes of responsibilization that has preceded it, by which I refer to developments in business ethics, CSR and corporate sustainability. Focusing primarily on ESG as a heading for corporate responsibility policies and practices within the context of EU regulation, I consider ESG as a supplement to prior conceptions rather than a stand-alone concept. After outlining the foundational, societal and environmental accomplishments of the other three constructs, I argue that the defining, supplementary feature of ESG is that it is informational and that it has emerged as a concept that binds together the information needs of investors, corporate disclosures and government regulation. Thus, the ethics of ESG must be understood in terms of its ability to put greater and more obligatory demands on corporate responsibility through standardized reporting, standardized methods, and standardized data and performance measures.