Killing Sustainability

Updated for 2022, Killing Sustainability expands its analysis and candid evaluation of the current worlds of sustainability, environmental/social/governance (ESG) and corporate responsibility. The setting and circumstances changed significantly since the book's original 2018 publication but the core theme is even more important than ever given the recent seismic shift in corporate & investor emphasis on ESG programs/metrics.

Author Lawrence Heim presents blunt truth about why many executives hesitate to invest in sustainability, social responsibility and ESG programs, how practitioners create credibility problems in their organizations and how to use credible financial valuation methods to overcome these barriers.

Based on three and one-half decades of advising Fortune 500 companies, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, US Departments of State and Commerce and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on environmental management, responsible supply chains, sustainability, risk management and non-financial auditing, Heim delivers what others in the sustainability/CSR/ESG world won't talk about.

Killing Sustainability reveals historical attitudes that continue to impact executive actions today, how sustainability/CSR professionals create credibility problems in organizations and ways to apply behavioral economics and credible financial valuation methods.

Instead of offering a formulaic list of cliche projects, Heim gives readers in-depth understanding of barriers that exist in convincing the C-suite and consumers of sustainability/CSR's value, then provides frameworks and approaches for communicating in a way that is meaningful to specific audiences, including the all-important economic justification.

• those new to ESG
• industry veterans seeking new/refreshed ideas
• executives looking to understand where real ESG value may exist
• board members newly responsible for overseeing - and questioning - ESG matters
• students in business, environmental/sustainability and economics programs

• taking on the 2021-2022 global energy crisis and inflation in an ESG context
• greatly expanded analysis, commentary and studies/data related to ESG ratings
• breaking down the topics of Net-Zero commitments, offsetting, transition economy and carbon pricing (internal and external)
• a thorough discussion of traditional risk management as a business function and where ESG/sustainability practitioners go wrong and can improve
• more and updated examples of how to avoid using "garbage economics" to determine the economic value of ESG/sustainability initiatives by reducing reliance on stock price (i.e., "sprinkling ESG fairy dust on shares") and linking to hard dollar savings and revenue
• questioning the effectiveness of ESG investment - and divestment - strategies, and the impact on investees
• changes in SEC rules and guidance related to ESG topics
• new developments in ESG/climate accounting standards (U.S. and international)
• new dangers facing Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs)
• why a new model for cost accounting for Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions isn't valid.