From Mandatory to Meaningful
With the EU Omnibus, ESG is changing status.
What was once an obligation and often considered as the finish line is now expected to turn optional.
ESG for the sake of ESG is over.
The era of ESG serving business interests has begun.
But the world isn’t getting any calmer. Energy crises. Wars. Inflation. Technology shifts faster than policy can follow. In this turbulence, how can ESG stay relevant — not as an annual report, but as a real business lever?
A growing circle of ESG practitioners is trying to answer that question.
They don’t want to bury ESG; they want to redefine it. To turn it from a legal label into a strategic compass.
Because ESG was never meant to be the destination, it’s the toolkit to build profitability, resilience, and competitiveness. And maybe the acronym itself needs an update: Energy, Security, Growth.
The New Paradigm: Energy, Security, Growth
The traditional ESG principles of renewable energy, responsible people management, biodiversity protection, and solid governance still matter.
They simply need a new job description: not to make companies look good, but to make them last.
In a world of energy scarcity, geopolitical tension, and economic pressure, those old ESG bricks can build the foundations of the new one.
The old ESG is the means to achieve the new ESG.
Energy: The Power Resilience
For years, energy lived in the sustainability appendix — an appendix to the real business story. Not anymore, energy is now the headline.
It’s not only just about counting tonnes of CO₂; it’s about keeping the machines running. Affordable, reliable power has become a competitive advantage.
And here’s the twist: companies are increasingly marrying themselves to AI power as tightly as they once did to fossil fuels. In a few years, a blackout that freezes AI systems could hurt as much as an oil embargo once did.
That’s why the ESG reflexes built on reporting don’t cut it anymore.
A Power Purchase Agreement looks nice on paper, but does nothing to ensure power resilience — until the grid goes down.
Carbon credits allow firms to make popular claims about their footprint — but they don’t keep data centres online or machines on.
Real resilience lives closer to home.
Solar panels on the roof. Wind turbines in the parking lot. Batteries in the basement.
That’s where the original spirit of “E” comes back into play. Renewable investments, energy-efficiency programs, transparency on consumption — once symbols of virtue, now tools of survival.
The old “E” empowers the new one.
Security: From Governance to Geopolitics
The “G” in ESG used to stand for governance — independence, ethics, compliance.
Still vital, but too narrow for the world we live in.
Today, security has taken the front seat. And not just cyber or data security. We’re talking about supply chains, critical resources, even geography.
What happens to semiconductor supply if Taiwan falls into conflict?
What happens to Europe’s industry if war creeps further east?
Those aren’t abstract questions. They’re business continuity plans waiting to fail.
Here again, the old ESG reflexes offer a map forward:
- Local sourcing reduces exposure to logistics disruptions.
- Circular economy principles — repair, reuse, recycle — cut dependency on fragile global flows and supply.
- Resource efficiency ensures access to materials tomorrow.
And people management? It’s part of national security now. Protecting know-how, retaining talent, keeping culture intact — these are not HR KPIs. They are shields.
Good governance completes the circle.
A transparent, diverse board doesn’t just tick boxes; it sees risk before others do.
Security isn’t new. It’s the traditional ESG, repurposed for a riskier world.
Growth: The Misunderstood G
Growth has become almost taboo in sustainability debates. For some, it’s the enemy of the planet. For others, it’s the only engine strong enough to fund the transition.
But denying growth is like sailing opposite the wind. Irrealistic. The real realistic challenge of our century is how to grow in our modern context.
Growth finances innovation, jobs, and stability. The task is to align it with long-term viability — not replace one with the other.
And here again, the old ESG provides the machinery:
- Fair labor practices and inclusion create stable markets and loyal workforces.
- Environmental stewardship keeps natural capital productive.
- Transparent governance lowers capital costs and strengthens investor confidence.
Growth that ignores these levers is brittle. Growth built on them is resilient.
Sailing against the wind looks heroic. Steering with it looks smart.
Carbon accounting as the most valuable business tool
Carbon accounting is one of the most underestimated business tools.
It’s not just a climate metric — it’s a strategic X-ray of an entire company.
A good carbon footprint doesn’t just count emissions; it tracks energy use, material flows, logistics patterns, supplier dependencies, and product lifecycles.
It exposes inefficiencies, leaks, and hidden costs.
It shows where value is lost — and where resilience can be built.
Look closer, and carbon accounting connects directly to the new ESG:
- Energy: it pinpoints waste and reveals where local generation or efficiency investments make the biggest difference. Carbon data becomes the foundation for energy resilience, not just carbon reduction.
- Security: it maps dependencies across geographies, suppliers, and materials. In a world of fragile supply chains, those insights help anticipate disruptions before they strike.
- Growth: it uncovers performance opportunities. Efficiency gains reduce costs, smarter sourcing improves margins, and innovation thrives where waste is visible.
Carbon accounting transforms the ESG report from a retrospective exercise into a decision-making dashboard.
Growth built on that level of insight isn’t just profitable — it’s defensible.
How the Old ESG Builds the New
Here is a brief recap of how ESG basic principles can deliver en sustainable Energy, Security, and Growth:
| Old ESG Principle | Delivers on | By… |
| Renewable energy, efficiency | Energy | Building autonomy, cutting costs, ensuring resilience to grid risks |
| Circular economy, responsible sourcing | Security | Reducing dependencies and geopolitical exposure |
| Social inclusion, workforce well-being | Security & Growth | Retaining skills, driving innovation, and social stability |
| Governance and transparency | All three | Creating trust, coordination, and long-term resilience |
When used for reporting, these tools produce documents.
When used for performance, they produce resilience.
From Virtue to Resilience
So, is ESG dead? Not quite. It’s evolving — from doing good to doing better business.
The old ESG — Environmental, Social, Governance — remains the moral backbone.
The new ESG — Energy, Security, Growth — is its strategic expression.
They don’t compete. One feeds the other.
Perhaps this is ESG’s next chapter: Merging purpose with pragmatism, turning compliance into competitiveness, transforming virtue into resilience.
Because if the old ESG was about doing good,
the new ESG is about staying good — and staying alive.
My meeting with their Majesties King and Queen of Belgium
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