Cover Story
MARKETING AFRICA
Cover Story
Alice Ngatia
Beyond ESG Theatre: Why The Future Of Sustainability Will Be Measured In Evidence
Sometimes the most significant changes in business do not announce themselves with dramatic headlines. They emerge gradually, almost quietly, until one day the conversation sounds completely different from the one everyone was having only a few years before. That is the crossroads that sustainability finds itself today.
Not long ago, discussions about sustainability were largely defined by ambition. Organizations announced net-zero commitments, published glossy sustainability reports, invested in community programmes and proudly shared stories about renewable energy projects, biodiversity initiatives and responsible sourcing. Businesses wanted to demonstrate that they were part of the solution, and sustainability became one of the defining narratives of modern corporate leadership. Today, the conversation has changed.
Spend time in sustainability conferences or regulatory forums and a different set of questions begins to emerge. Executives are no longer looking at what sustainability initiatives they should launch, rather, they are asking which reporting framework applies to their organization, what information regulators will require, how climate-related risks should be governed, whether sustainability data can withstand external assurance and how quickly reporting obligations are likely to become mandatory.
The language is becoming noticeably more technical. Beneath that technical language however, lies something much bigger than compliance.
Businesses are entering a period where sustainability is no longer judged primarily by the quality of its intentions but by the quality of its evidence.
This distinction matters because it changes the role sustainability plays inside an organization. What was once viewed largely as a corporate responsibility initiative or a
12 MAL73 / 26 ISSUE communications exercise is steadily becoming part of mainstream business management. Decisions that were previously discussed within sustainability teams are now finding their way onto board agendas, into investor presentations and increasingly into discussions about risk, governance and long-term competitiveness.
This transition is unfolding across much of the world. Reason? The International Sustainability Standards Board( ISSB) has established a global baseline for sustainability disclosures. Regions like Europe have introduced the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards and other jurisdictions are building their own reporting roadmaps while aligning with internationally recognised frameworks. Every nation is on a tight timeline.
For many organizations, the question is no longer whether sustainability reporting is coming, it is how prepared they are when it arrives.
Beneath this movement however, lies a question that deserves far more attention than it currently receives. If sustainability reporting is becoming the language through which businesses are increasingly evaluated, who decides what that language measures? Whose priorities shape it? What does it reward? What does it overlook?
This article is not an argument against global sustainability standards. No. Quite the opposite.
In many respects, the emergence of common reporting frameworks is one of the most important developments sustainability has seen. Consistent standards reduce confusion, improve transparency and make it harder for organizations to make ambitious environmental claims without demonstrating measurable progress. Further, businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions benefit from speaking a common language.
But common languages are rarely complete. They evolve, absorb new perspectives and become richer as different societies begin using them in different ways. Think for example of regions whose development journeys differ significantly from those in which many of today ' s sustainability frameworks first emerged. The application of the standards ought to differ accordingly.
The next chapter of sustainability reporting may therefore depend not only on how well organizations comply with emerging standards, but also on how thoughtfully those standards are interpreted, implemented and refined across very different economic contexts.
That conversation has already begun and it is also changing the role of business functions that many organisations may not yet expect. Marketing is one of them.
Before exploring why, however, it is worth stepping back to understand how sustainability arrived at this moment in the first place.
When Sustainability Needed Rules
For much of the last two decades, sustainability occupied an unusual position inside business. While finance had accounting standards, health and safety had regulations, manufacturing had internationally recognise quality systems, and corporate governance operated within well-established legal frameworks, sustainability evolved differently.
It grew largely through voluntary action. Businesses experimented. Industry associations developed guidance. Investors created their own frameworks. Non-governmental organizations introduced reporting methodologies. Governments encouraged disclosure but, in many cases, stopped short of making it mandatory.