Forbes Research quietly rolled out an episode this week titled “How Sustainability Leaders Drive Rapid Growth,” presenting highlights from its 2025 Sustainability Survey of global executives — a polished piece that reads more like corporate cheerleading than hardnosed reporting. The video frames sustainability as the new growth playbook for high-flying companies, and Forbes offers it as proof that green strategies equal faster expansion.
The underlying survey material pushed by business outlets shows a clear executive consensus: most firms have increased sustainability spending and view ESG programs as a source of competitive advantage, with many planning to raise investments again. That sounds impressive until you remember these are self-reporting executives who benefit from attracting woke investors and government contracts; the money often flows where political and financial incentives align, not necessarily where customers or taxpayers get the best value.
Market data touted by Forbes and its peers does show that products marketed with ESG claims have outpaced peers in sales growth, a stat lifted from McKinsey and NielsenIQ analyses that found ESG-labeled items growing faster than non-ESG alternatives. Savvy businesses will follow customers, and if consumers pay a premium for certain sustainable attributes, companies will supply them — that is market capitalism at work, not a moral crusade that should be run by elites.
Consultancies used as evidence, like Capgemini, report that sustainable product design can reduce costs and boost revenues for firms that implement it thoughtfully, proving that efficiency and innovation — not virtue signaling — create real, lasting value. Those case studies are useful but selective: they highlight winners who had the capital and scale to optimize supply chains and redesign products, not the thousands of mom-and-pop businesses squeezed by rising compliance burdens.
Where Forbes and other mainstream outlets fail their readers is by skipping skepticism about cause and effect. Big, well-run companies tend to both grow faster and have resources for fancy sustainability programs; correlation is not proof that sustainability caused the growth. Meanwhile, global energy and transition reports remind us that resilience and a diverse energy mix matter; policy rushes that prioritize ideology over reliability risk real-world damage to working families and national security.
Conservatives should welcome anything that actually makes America more efficient and competitive, but we must refuse the narrative that every corporate green badge deserves taxpayer support or regulatory favoritism. Demand transparency, measure real outcomes, and let customers decide which products are worth their dollars — not woke funds or government decrees. If sustainability means cutting waste, lowering costs, and strengthening American industry, fine; if it means stifling growth to satisfy loud technocrats, we will oppose it with everything patriotic Americans have.
