# Sustainability Is Real and Smart Investors Know It.

1 Opinion December 2, 2023 Financial Times ![Tensie Whelan](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/Whelan%20Article.jpg?itok=XEKEqv-d)By Tensie Whelan

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Amid a mounting backlash against ESG, critics have argued that investors should care less about benchmarks of environmental, social and governance issues and should focus instead more on traditional financial analysis.

But it still matters to investors if companies pollute our waterways, exploit their workers or poison their customers. Even US states with curbs on ESG investment products, such as Texas and Florida, prosecute businesses for bad behaviour on ESG issues, with a negative impact on the companies’ bottom line.

And it is not just a matter of risk control. More broadly, corporate strategies that take sustainability into account can boost financial performance.

Read the full [*Financial Times* article](https://www.ft.com/content/5593c78d-aa22-4dc2-bef5-d98f72288482).
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*Tensie Whelan is a Clinical Professor of Business and Society and Director of the Center for Sustainable Business.*

## More from Tensie Whelan

- [Demystifying the ‘Say-Do’ Gap in Sustainable Product Purchases.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/opinion/demystifying-say-do-gap-sustainable-product-purchases)
- [How LPs Can Better Assess Sustainability-Linked Value Creation.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/opinion/how-lps-can-better-assess-sustainability-linked-value-creation)
- [Lessons From a Decade of Teaching Sustainability at B-School.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/lessons-decade-teaching-sustainability-b-school)
- [ESG Reporting Needs a Refresh. Here’s How to Fix It.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/esg-reporting-needs-refresh-heres-how-fix-it)
- [The B2B Opportunity in Corporate Sustainability.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/b2b-opportunity-corporate-sustainability)