Is it finally time for the ‘S’ in ESG to shine?
Is it finally time for the ‘S’ in ESG to shine?
Chelsie Riley, Business in the Community’s Social Impact Lead, explores why the ‘S’ in ESG may finally be taking centre stage and what it means for business.
For the past decade, we have patiently waited while we have watched a steady shift in how businesses understand risk and value. Climate is now firmly on the board agenda, and nature is catching up fast. But when it comes to people, employees, communities, and wider society – the ‘social’ side of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) – progress has been slower and, at times, very clearly deprioritised.
The moment for the ‘S’ in ESG might have actually arrived
Enter the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures, or TISFD. Not the catchiest acronym, but a genuinely important step forward in how organisations understand and respond to one of the defining challenges of our time: inequality and inequity.
Businesses rely on people and on stable, functioning societies to survive. The issues society face should be seen as a clear business problem, with a clear link to commercial success. TISFD reflects this shift in the way we look at things. It reframes inequality as a system-level risk, with a clear link to financial performance – one that affects resilience and long-term value, not just reputation.
So, what is TISFD?
At its core, TISFD is developing a global framework to help organisations understand their impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities in relation to people and inequality. If it sounds familiar, that is because it follows the shape of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD): structured, practical, and designed to bring complex issues into mainstream decision-making.
The message is simple. The ‘S’ can no longer sit on the sidelines. It needs to be part of how organisations govern, plan, and manage risk.
It’s time to raise the bar
We know ESG is not always the same as purposeful and responsible business. ESG done well shows how a business is run, providing a framework to guide decisions, deliver strategy, and manage risk. Done badly, it is reduced to a box-ticking exercise, a compliance tool with little real impact.
The opportunity, and challenge, for organisations is to use ESG not just for compliance, but as a framework that strengthens business purpose, reinforces values, and builds trust.
Wherever you are on your journey, TISFD matters
If you are just starting out, it is a clear signal that expectations are changing. Understanding your social impact is becoming essential. If you are more advanced, it is a chance to strengthen what you already do: sharpen your data, improve consistency, and link impact more clearly to business value.
And for leadership teams, it is a nudge to ask some bigger questions:
For many organisations, there will be a mix of familiarity and challenge: familiarity because concepts like stakeholder engagement and outcomes are already well embedded in social impact work; challenge because TISFD goes further. It asks organisations to take a deeper, more intentional look at:
It is asking for a more holistic view of social value and impact, and one that reflects how interconnected these issues really are.
TISFD is still evolving
Businesses can help shape what good looks like. Testing approaches, sharing insights, and ensuring the framework works in practice, not just on paper.
At Business in the Community (BITC), we see this as more than a reporting shift. It is a chance to rethink how organisations understand their role in society, and how they define success.
That is why we are bringing our members together to explore what TISFD means in practice, share emerging thinking, and gather their views to help shape the wider conversation.
Join the conversation by registering for our upcoming event.
And beyond the event, this is exactly the space we are supporting businesses to navigate. From shaping social impact strategies, to strengthening measurement, to aligning social value more clearly with business performance, we are working with organisations at every stage of the journey. Find out more about how our Advisory Services can help your business today.
If you’re starting to think differently about the ‘S’ in ESG, or want to turn ambition into something more structured and actionable, we’d love to work with you.
