Is ESG Losing Its Shine?
The 5th Athens ESG Forum took place successfully on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at the Eugenides Foundation Amphitheatre, bringing together more than 70 speakers from Greece and abroad, along with over 300 attendees representing business, academia, policy and civil society.
Throughout the day’s agenda, featuring keynotes, panels, fireside chats, and live demonstrations, participants explored the evolving landscape of ESG, questioned conventional assumptions, and proposed fresh approaches to sustainability leadership.
Is ESG still delivering on its promise?
That was the central question raised across multiple sessions, with many speakers expressing concern that the ESG value proposition is increasingly unclear and often unconvincing to markets and stakeholders.
One of the most thought-provoking contributions came from Sasja Beslik, Chief Investment Strategy Officer at SDG Impact Japan, who presented his exclusive new research for the first time, titled “Who’s Getting Paid for Sustainability – And Who Isn’t?”
Key findings included:
- 97% of Sweden’s largest listed companies are not being financially rewarded for their ESG performance.
- The market fails to reflect sustainability efforts in valuations, according to the Sustainability-Weighted Market Capitalization (SWMC) model developed by Beslik.
- The conclusion: sustainability, as it is implemented today, is not priced in and therefore not working.
“Sustainability has become too elitist,” Beslik noted, “when it should be reframed as a political economy project with a positive, inclusive narrative that resonates with the broader public.”
The Forum also spotlighted:
- New EU regulatory expectations and ESG reporting standards.
- The role of technology as a bridge between science and enterprise.
- The need for cross-sector collaboration, SME inclusion, and gender-conscious climate finance.
- The emerging new leadership in the age of artificial intelligence.
- The importance of rethinking ESG as a driver of real, shared value, not just a reporting exercise.
Under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Forum offered a timely space for dialogue, reflection, and critical thinking on what ESG needs to become in its next chapter.
A detailed review of the Forum will be featured in an upcoming issue of Marketing Week magazine.
Interview with Vassilis Kafiris, Executive Conference Producer, here.
