A G7 playbook for tackling ESG

A G7 playbook for tackling ESG

What happens when you add ESG to the G7? You create another ugly acronym, no doubt. But you also capture the shift in the ideological frame that is currently under way as leaders from the world's largest seven countries gather in Cornwall for their first face-to-face meeting for 18 months.

Amid all the drama of last-minute negotiations about the documents, vaccine delivery and common approaches to Russia and China, one of the most telling details about this G7 is the tone of the advisory memo that was commissioned by the British government ahead of the summit. This document, drawn up by economists and policymakers from the seven countries, issues a long string of recommendations for how the world should "build better forward“ “” under a new so-called "Cornwall Consensus“, defined in contrast to the Washington Consensus of 30 years ago.

That grandiose name might prompt an eye-roll “” or snigger, given that Cornwall is not normally viewed as a hotbed for geopolitics or intellectual revolution. In any case, it is unlikely that most (or many) of the recommendations will be taken up. But, as I note in my column, the memo is a striking sign of the zeitgeist shift that is under way