ESG cannot be left to sustainability officers, communications teams or consultants alone. The board must connect ESG to strategy, risk appetite, capital allocation, performance management and stakeholder accountability, argues the writer.
Nqobani Mzizi
Many organisations now converse easily in the language of ESG. Environmental targets are announced, social impact programmes are profiled, and governance structures are described in impressive detail. On paper, the organisation appears responsible, aware, and future-facing.
Yet the real test of ESG does not lie in reporting. It lies in whether ESG changes how the organisation is governed.
This distinction matters because ESG can easily become reputational theatre: a chapter in the annual report, a dashboard for stakeholders, a slide in an investor presentation or a once-a-year compliance template. When this happens, ESG becomes a language of appearance rather than a discipline of accountability.
