Kuala Lampur, June 23 -- Walk into any ESG conference, and you'll hear a familiar refrain: net-zero pledges, carbon credit markets, and circular economy buzzwords. We have created a world where "E" stands for everything, "G" stands for governance, and "S" stands for sorry, we'll get to it next year. The uncomfortable truth is that the environmental dimension has cannibalised the social dimension of ESG. Meanwhile, governance - the lever that could fix this imbalance - often serves only to protect profits. If we are serious about sustainability, we must confront why this happened and how to force a more equitable marriage between people, planet, and profit.

Why the social dimension lost out? First, the environment is easier to commodify. ...