In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the activism-driven corporate world is relatively fragile and is proving to be unsustainable, particularly when viewed in the broader context of rapidly changing political and social norms and increasing divisiveness across many planes of the social contract. The exponential widening of income inequality, the increasing sense of urgency around climate change, and the widespread socioeconomic upheaval resulting from the displacement of human capital by technology have all been filtering into the debate about the role and governance of the corporate ecosystem. Persuasive academic and empirical evidence has established the causal link between short-termism and widespread harms to GDP, national productivity and competitiveness, innovation, wages and employment. In addition, the concepts of sustainability, ESG (environment, social and governance) and “corporate purpose” have all been gaining traction in the corporate governance lexicon.

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