Greg Watson Discusses the "No Single Right Way" Approach to ESG

ESG Decoded is a podcast powered by ClimeCo to share updates related to business innovation and sustainability in a clear and actionable manner. Welcome back to our ESG Paradigm Shift Series, where we examine different angles of the ESG phenomenon and its broader implications for finance and prosperity. In this episode, Kaitlyn Allen talks with Greg Watson, Founder of Partnership Capital. Greg worked in investment management and corporate finance for various leading City of London firms before joining Monitor Company, where he was a partner and helped establish a strategic transaction advisory affiliate. Greg then started a consulting firm and, in parallel, helped manage the start-up of an interdisciplinary social science academic funding foundation. Over the last few years, he has been conducting an innovation investment experiment to test the importance of partnering and active stewardship for deep-tech innovation. He recently published an article on the social convention foundations of finance, “No Single Right Way,” which has sparked interest and debate. Listen as Kaitlyn and Greg discuss refreshing new ways to think about ESG. A new mindset is emerging, challenging how we currently approach ESG topics. Greg explains that this evolution is right on time, as it has been 20+ years since the initial correlation between investment returns and sustainability. We are reminded that ESG means different things to the various stakeholders, which continues to fuel debates in the sustainability community, especially at the intersection of ESG-Finance-Investing. We hope this episode will inspire some healthy conversations with your ESG networks. Enjoy! Episode Resource Links The No Single Right Way article https://www.linkedin.com/posts/greg-watson-pcl_no-single-right-way-constructive-real-world-activity-6965615118298578944-yThW?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop “3 Open Goals”, which follows on from it and describes three ways in which the parties taking different positions in the ESG debate might be reconciled https://www.linkedin.com/posts/greg-watson-pcl_no-single-right-way-constructive-real-world-activity-6975091860662861824-fIY8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop The 2006 paper “Heroics, Sustainability and Commonsense – Valuation practices for the future” suggested the finance industry would adopt new ways to harness real-world information relevant to long term