The ESG Reckoning: Private Equity's Sustainability Commitments Are Being Tested by Reality
After years of ambitious ESG pledges and framework adoption, a growing number of private equity professionals are confronting an uncomfortable question: has the industry's approach to environmental, social, and governance priorities become more performative than substantive? Regulatory ambiguity, measurement inconsistencies, and quiet investor pushback are prompting a frank reassessment of how ESG is integrated — or not — into the actual work of managing portfolio companies.