It started in a café.

I had just ordered an iced strawberry matcha latte the kind of drink you get when you’re chasing aesthetics as much as taste. When it arrived, I noticed something unusual: the straw was made of rice. Edible. Biodegradable. No plastic, no greenwashing just a tiny, intentional step toward sustainability.

That small detail stuck.

While sipping, I scrolled LinkedIn and stumbled upon a post about ESG Environmental, Social, and Governance. The acronym sounded familiar, but honestly, I didn’t know much beyond the buzzword. A quick search turned into me enrolling in a course called “Leveraging Business Analysis in ESG.”

What I expected was corporate jargon. What I got was a perspective shift. By the end of 39 minutes, I wasn’t just thinking about rice straws. I was thinking about how businesses cafés, farms, tech giants are rewriting their playbooks in the face of climate and social change.

ESG Without the Jargon

So, what is ESG really? It’s not just a checklist for big corporations it’s a framework for how organizations impact the world.

E = Environmental (The Planet Check)

Carbon emissions, energy efficiency, water use, sourcing how businesses treat the Earth.

S = Social (The People Check)

How employees, customers, and communities are treated: diversity, equity, inclusion, well-being.

G = Governance (The Accountability Check)

Board structure, ethics, compliance, transparency.

Together, they shift the question from “How much profit?” to “At what cost, and for whom?”

Why ESG Isn’t Optional Anymore

Here’s the kicker: ESG isn’t just about being nice. It’s about being smart.

• Consumers are voting with wallets. More people now choose brands aligned with their values sometimes even paying extra for them.
• Investors are moving trillions. As of 2021, over $30.3 trillion globally sat in ESG-related funds. Money is chasing sustainability.
• Companies with ESG resilience survive better. They adapt faster, protect reputations, and think long-term instead of quarter-to-quarter.

In short, ESG is becoming the new baseline.

The Unsung Role of Business Analysts

Here’s where the course surprised me: business analysts (BAs) are at the heart of ESG adoption.

They aren’t just crunching numbers. They’re:

• Aligning ESG with company strategy.
• Talking to stakeholders from farmers to regulators.
• Measuring ripple effects beyond cost sheets.
• Spotting greenwashing and designing real solutions.
• Tracking what actually matters carbon, equity, governance metrics.

In other words, BAs help turn ESG from a PowerPoint into practice.

Why This Matters in Agriculture

As an agriculture student, my world has always been soil, water, and crops. But ESG made me see the other systems shaping farming finance, supply chains, corporate accountability.

Imagine this:

• Farmers accessing loans from banks that prioritize ESG-aligned projects.
• Agri-businesses required to disclose emissions across their supply chains.
• Climate-tech startups using ESG frameworks to track impact and attract funding.

The overlap is clear. Agriculture doesn’t just feed us it also feeds into how ESG goals are met.

ESG as a Mindset, Not a Metric

Before the course, I thought ESG was just corporate fluff. Now, I see it as a mindset shift. It’s a new language of responsibility one that businesses, policymakers, and even farmers will need to speak.

It’s not about making sustainability “look good.” It’s about making it work for people, profits, and the planet.

If you’re curious, I’d genuinely recommend that course: “Leveraging Business Analysis in ESG” on LinkedIn Learning.

And if you’re already working with ESG, I’d love to hear your take. Because the more we share stories and systems, the closer we get to businesses and farms that are built to last.