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Do these groups achieve anything meaningful? Feels like the kind of thing companies sign up to so they can get some PR and say they're being 'responsible'. Lik
by crowcroft 2y ago
Do these groups achieve anything meaningful? Feels like the kind of thing companies sign up to so they can get some PR and say they're being 'responsible'.
Like Exxon was/is an ESG friendly stock, but Tesla isn't. Regardless of how you feel about Elon, the real impact both companies have on the environment shows the absurdity of all this corporate green washing nonsense.
- Wowfunhappy 2y agoBut don't you think it's concerning if they're not even attempting to keep up with appearances anymore?
- bdcravens 2y agoMyself I prefer they are honest about it. There's no value in a false sense of security.
- llamaimperative 2y agoThis relies on the totally unsubstantiated view that a less appealing outward appearance is more honest. If you believe corporations tend to fall short of their external appearances, then what reason do you have to believe this isn’t still the case, but from a lower basis? I.e. you assume: Before: 8 goodness points (apparent) = 6 goodness points (actual) Now: 6 goodness points (apparent) = 6 goodness points (actual) Wouldn’t your logic actually indicate their new goodness points (actual) should be 4?
- prepend 2y agoI think “keeping up appearances” is too subjective to be meaningful. It seems like something that someone will always think they aren’t or are, so you have to poll people or whatever to figure it out. So it will lead to me chasing something I can’t know well. I’d rather avoid these sort of meaningless labels and just focus on doing what I think is important. Like it I wanted to reduce climate impact and I was a bank, I would set up a page that lists all the ways I impact climate.
- llamaimperative 2y agoRight and… isn’t this a step in the opposite direction…?
- crowcroft 2y agoHonestly, I don't really know if I should or shouldn't be. ESG actively allocated investment dollars that were specifically designated for socially and environmentally responsible businesses into oil & gas companies, so in that case keeping up appearances is actively making things worse than doing nothing.
- bee_rider 2y agoIt is concerning, but it’s a symptom of a problem that, if you are concerned, you probably knew about already.
- phil21 2y agoNope. I find it hopeful. Maybe people in general are sick of the pandering and performative nonsense and are finally realizing "awareness" is a bullshit made up thing for people to feel better while doing absolutely nothing useful. As others have pointed out, this sort of stuff is actively harmful once entities learn to easily game it. This sort of thing has sucked the air from anyone actually doing useful meaningful things - since anyone paying attention just rolls their eyes when someone talks about being green or whatever. Sure, some companies and orgs actually are legitimately doing useful and interesting stuff - but it takes so much personal research into each one now that anyone blathering about how they are green is met with instant suspicion to anyone remotely paying attention to the space. The less administrative and marketing driven grift the better, even if it's a tiny little baby step. This sort of thing has done more to harm the environmental movement than helped it from where I'm standing.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago> This sort of thing has sucked the air from anyone actually doing useful meaningful things Do you really expect real movement on climate change now?
- surgical_fire 2y agoNo. We should all stop being naive. A corporation only mandate is profits, always increasing ones. All else is secondary. It's the role of elected governments to regulate that their incessant chase for profits don't harm society. If society puts in place a government that doesn't care to regulate corporations in their harmful ways, well, in a sense society has spoken.
- stackskipton 2y agoThey provided political cover and bogus argument that industry could regulate itself instead of proper government regulations being put in.
- coliveira 2y agoYes, and now with a Trump presidency they don't need to pretend they care anymore...
- GenerocUsername 2y agoHonestly I'd rather the facade fall so that real action can he taken. I'll take 4 years of unabashed abuse if it ends 30 years of faking solutions
- notatoad 2y agoThey probably do still need to pretend they care, customer opinion isn't irrelevant. but they certainly don't need to convince the US government that they care anymore.
- KerrAvon 2y agoThey can’t make decisions on that basis, because they’re only good for the next two years; Republicans are very likely to lose the House in 2026. Assuming anything resembling the current structure of the world holds together at all.
- cyanydeez 2y agoNone of tgese businesses care beyond 6 months
- gosub100 2y agoSo you're saying they lied under the democratic administration and it was tolerated/not detected?
- JKCalhoun 2y ago> Feels like the kind of thing companies sign up to so they can get some PR Telling when they quit then and get bad PR.
- chollida1 2y agoI get that you are joking about Exon and Tesla but the story behind that is that Exxon actually has a responsive board while Tesla has very poor governance. It has nothing to do with the E in ESG and was only referring to the G.
- crowcroft 2y agoFair enough that Tesla is disqualified for poor governance. Lacking the G is disqualifying, but lacking the E isn't? Tells you all need to know about the programme.