In the past, large corporations could largely go about their business, creating profit and satisfying their shareholders, unhindered, but in today’s world, businesses are being buffeted by world events as never before (latterly: climate change, a global pandemic and armed conflict). Both governments and the private sector are increasingly expected to act in accordance with the growing consensus, particularly in the west, about what constitutes sound business practice in this environment. International businesses are often now seen, not simply as wealth creators and providers of jobs, but as ‘citizens’ with ethical responsibilities. If a business wants to recruit and retain talent, this requires more than just a good customer-facing brand. Potential employees (especially millennials and generation Z) are choosy about whether to associate themselves with a business. All this means that businesses are increasingly expected to work towards real, measurable ethical credentials: in other words ‘ESG’.