In the past year, ESG investing has become caught up in America’s culture wars, as prominent GOP politicians claim that it is a mechanism investors are using to to impose a “woke” ideology on companies. Upcoming congressional hearings on ESG present an opportunity to put facts on the record and to begin the process of working toward a bipartisan consensus that will take the political passion out of ESG.

The key will be returning ESG to its narrow and technocratic intention — as a means for helping companies identify and communicate to investors the material long-term risks the company faces from environmental, sustainability and governance issues. It is important to separate discussions about investors need for disclosures about material risk factors from debates about salient political issues.

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