After the discussion, I was thinking, why are we still having this conversation? How it is that, in this day and age, and despite ample evidence, so many companies still don’t get that sound ESG performance can drive financial performance?

At the risk of oversimplifying, I think that the silo effect is a big factor. The folks in IR don’t talk much to the folks in sales, who, increasingly, have to respond to RFPs seeking information on ESG performance. (Note to federal contractors, if you’re not already getting those questions, get ready: On October 5, as part of a broader executive order, the White House ordered all federal agencies to employ sustainability criteria in the procurement of goods and services (see Section 2(h)). And when the federal government chooses a more sustainable option, it’s not likely to give the losing bidder a call to explain why.)

Yet with more than 11% of all US assets held by firms employing SRI strategies, and with well-respected business journals such as the HBR and the MIT Sloan Management Review extolling the benefits of sustainability as a key driver of innovation (and, ergo, financial performance), there’s no excuse for companies not to get what this sustainability thing is all about.

But some still don’t want to get it. I recently heard one company’s management respond thus to an investor request for greater disclosure of ESG performance: they don’t have to invest in us.

It’s true, they don’t. And increasingly, they won’t.