It has been noticeable for a while that companies are shying away from issuing ESG news — or at least, ESG news as we know it.

Increasingly, firms seem less willing to associate themselves with the term because of its politicisation and investor attitudes, and this week saw a new low watermark — there is simply very little new news with ESG in the headline at the moment.

But compare that to news about the most pressing topics beneath the ESG banner and it’s a very different story. This week has seen a slew of important developments covered by the media and involving large UK companies. It’s just that the acronym rarely appears in the headline and sometimes not even in the main copy — unless it’s yet another opinion piece on ‘whether the ESG movement is dead’ or not.

Spoiler alert: it’s not dead

What we’re seeing in corporate communications, in decisions in investment markets, and probably in editorial approaches to covering all that’s going on, is a rapid retrenchment from putting the letters ESG up in lights. Often, they’re not even mentioned. But other than the contentious acronym having been unceremoniously removed, it’s business as usual: information and action tied to an ESG-driven agenda.

As this Forbes piece — one of the very few this week with ESG in the headline — put it, investment outcomes matter more than a label.

Meanwhile, look for news about sustainable investment and corporate action, and the recent developments, twists and turns are plain for all to see.

Quiet on all fronts

On the greenwashing front, the Financial Conduct Authority’s new labelling scheme has proven so difficult to implement that investment fund operators have been given another four months to comply with the regulation.

On the geopolitical front, the Climate Week event in New York saw media react by pointing to mistrust amongst nations on environmental action that is undermining those efforts.

On the COP29 front, the host Azerbaijan has continued to draw criticism over its own climate plans and record.

On the clean energy and emissions reduction front, the media has been full of stories as this week saw the final day of coal-fired power stations in the UK. There was analysis of other sources that are replacing coal to generate electricity and coverage of plans for a “utility scale” hydrogen plant in Scotland.

On the international regulatory front, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is hitting bumps as Brussels fired a broadside at 17 member states that have apparently dragged their feet in (not yet) adopting it.

And on the corporate commitments front, Asda is trialling a new ESG-driven schools engagement programme while Lidl has accelerated its net zero targets and B&Q has introduced a refurbished tools range.

ESG, and news about its value, progress and innovation, is alive and kicking. As that Forbes piece put it, it has just been relabelled.