The Financialization of Civil Society Activism: Sustainable Finance, Non-Financial Disclosure and the Shrinking Space for Engagement

Inspired by the principles of sustainable finance and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, the European Union Directive 95/2014 on non-financial disclosure recognized that metrics and more transparency would foster internal debates, ensuring proper governance and helping to promote dialogue between management, the board and stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Although significant academic attention has been paid to the -limited- space that the third sector had in the definition of the content of the Directive, not enough has been said on the way in which the Directive and ESG reporting can be leveraged by non-financial actors and what are the consequences of embracing accounting, non-financial reporting and corporate governance as tools for campaigning. This paper tries to fill the gap and asks some direct questions: are the Directive and the EU approach to sustainable finance opening spaces of engagement and confrontation that contribute to a true transition into a socially and environmentally sustainable future? Is the encounter between the financial realm and civil society a real win-win in the best interest of future generations and the planet? After presenting the background of the Directive and the three main opportunities that the ESG framework presents for civil society engagement, we conclude with a critical reflection on what is lost when civil society sits around the same table as financial institutions, uses their vocabulary and accepts that the conversation can only happen around those social and environmental causes that are financially material.