The headline to this article is a sobering assessment, but it’s accurate. In the last issue of ESG Magazine, I wrote about how we can get more investors engaged with the SDGs.

When we think about companies and the work they do, we often lose sight of a simple fact: a business is just a collection of people. And, all groups of people tend to build a culture, a collective way of viewing the world.

After two decades working as a CSR professional and just three months leading GRI, I’m more convinced than ever that transparency is a powerful force for change. But I’m also just as convinced that we are still far from end goal: sustainable development.

Ernst Ligteringen’s sudden and unexpected death on June 15th was a devastating shock for me and my colleagues at GRI, the sustainability non-profit that Ernst led for more than 12 years.