PwC: How much does the public care about ESG?

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Article by: Casey Herman, US ESG Leader, Partner, PwC US

After nearly two years of living through a global pandemic, with the threat of climate change potentially impacting the lives of people throughout the world and with an explosion in concern about racial and gender inequality, ESG issues are more prominent in public discourse.

But how much does the public truly care about ESG?

Our recent report Beyond compliance: Consumers and employees want business to do more on ESG, provides some answers. We found that 83% of consumers think companies should be actively shaping ESG best practices and 86% of employees prefer to support or work for companies that care about the same issues they do. While what consumers claim to care about and how they behave do not always match perfectly, these are still striking figures.

Business, it would seem, is paying keen attention to this new articulation of consumer concerns. 91% of business leaders say they believe their company has a responsibility to act on ESG issues. That’s good news, not least since 76% percent of consumers told us they will discontinue relations with companies that treat employees, communities and the environment poorly.

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