Abstract
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) has been prevalent over the past two decades and is a relatively new concept for investors and companies. Investors and companies increasingly prioritise ESG in their decision-making due to responsible investment and the growing social and environmental problems, such as modern slavery, unsustainable consumption, and climate change. Policymakers and regulators developed related policies and regulations to assist local companies align with ESG initiatives. The development of ESG practice in Asia is still at the initial stage compared to Western countries. Asian countries show different levels of ESG implementation due to heterogeneous institutional backgrounds. The policymakers, market regulators, and listed companies have taken a series of measures to incorporate ESG into corporate strategies, such as voluntary or mandatory ESG reporting standards, to create a transparent, accountable, and favourable market with low risk for different stakeholders. A number of theories are adopted to explain the motivations of ESG reporting. This chapter will provide a general overview of how ESG originated and evolved in investment decisions, introduce particular well-adopted global ESG reporting standards, and how regional regulators and listed companies in response to this global trend.
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Leung, T.C.H., You, C.SX. (2023). Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the Business Industry. In: Environmental, Social and Governance and Sustainable Development in Healthcare. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1564-4_2
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