Ep. 7 The Untapped Potential of ESG for Decentralised Energy

Nancy Foran, ESG Partners - Episode 7

Written by: Giulia Brito Pound | · DEC · | May 28, 2025

At the nexus of decentralised energy innovation and corporate accountability, the role of sustainability reporting is becoming impossible to ignore. While often dismissed as vague or peripheral, Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) reporting has never been a more critical driver of resilience and competitiveness within the energy landscape. Few understand this shift more deeply than Nancy Foran, founder of ESG Partners Inc., who has spent the past four years helping companies move ESG from the sidelines into the heart of strategic decision-making.

This is particularly relevant in the decentralised energy space, where ESG frameworks provide essential tools for evaluating long-term project viability and supply chain relationships which are all critical considerations in meeting future industry demands. Profit and sustainability have traditionally been viewed as opposing goals, but Foran asserts that this is a false trade-off. “Once you create transparency and accountability by tracking, measuring and reporting, you can predict challenges, find solutions and identify alternatives,” she says, which would ultimately enable a more resilient, adaptive and future-ready value chain.

Reframing Sustainability: The True Value of ESG

Before launching ESG Partners Inc in 2021, Foran spent years immersed in international development and capacity-building work. As she explored strategies for advancing economic and social prosperity, she began to observe a critical shift: ESG principles are gaining global traction and shaping how  companies build relationships, form partnerships and access new opportunities.

There is a common misconception about sustainability. As Foran notes, there is “too much focus on ‘saving trees’,” which reduces sustainability to a mere environmental concern. But real sustainability is about the long-term viability of systems, those that are ecological, human, and economic. At its core, sustainability is the ability to sustain activity indefinitely without degrading the resources that support it. Without measurement and accountability, however, these ideals remain aspirational at best.

That’s where ESG comes in. ESG reporting creates the framework for companies to track, evaluate, and communicate exactly how they operate. Its value emerges when it’s effectively embedded into supply chains, financial decision-making, and governance mechanisms. Foran warns that “if businesses don’t start integrating ESG into how they operate, they won’t be around in ten years,” emphasising the growing expectation for companies to adopt genuinely sustainable practices as ESG performance is shaping the decision-making processes of key stakeholders—including investors, potential business partners, and government institutions—who rely on these standards to assess the credibility and long-term viability of the organisations they engage with and support.

Foran sees ESG as a strategic lens that connects environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and sound governance into a clear narrative of value creation. By aligning company practices with global standards and building transparent reporting frameworks, ESG enables companies not only to mitigate risks (ranging from labour and human rights violations, consumer trust to reputational risks) but also build greater levels of trust with partners and potential investors, allowing for long-term resilience and greater market credibility.

Supply Chain Transparency: Raising the Bar for Trust and Investment

Nancy asserts that “just enabling sustainability isn’t enough.” “If you want to be part of a larger value chain, your internal controls need to be clear, your reporting needs to be valid, and your standards need to be known—by consumers, by investors, and by your partners.”

Clarity builds trust. ESG reporting enables companies to understand who they are working with and whether those relationships can stand up to scrutiny. ESG is not just about protecting your reputation, rather it’s about attracting investment, meeting export requirements, and earning your place in future-focused and future-ready supply chains.

Today, companies such as Schneider Electric are already leading by example, embedding ESG metrics across their procurement and production systems. “If you can attach an ESG score to each element of a product—financial value, environmental impact, and social performance, it changes the conversation,” she says. “Suddenly, a consumer or investor can see what their dollars are supporting.”

In the face of intensifying climate conditions, worsening labour rights, and global regulation evolving in real time, Foran believes that transparency will become the foundation for future business models, especially those that are rooted not only in efficiency and innovation, but in trust.

ESG and Decentralised Energy: Innovation from the Ground Up

Foran is particularly excited by decentralised energy’s potential to provide solutions to regions where large infrastructure projects are impractical or too slow to implement. She notes that decentralised energy offers the flexibility to tailor solutions to local needs, engage communities directly and scale innovation from the bottom-up. 

But to unlock the full potential of decentralised energy systems, ESG principles need to be embedded from the outset. Foran offers unique insight on how we can integrate ESG into energy transition efforts, emphasising that “innovation is not always about technological advancement,” rather it’s about how we choose to engage with communities, how we ensure human rights and environmental outcomes, and how we create systems that are sustainable.

ESG offers four key mechanisms that support decentralised energy systems with long-term value:

• Risk Assessment: ESG frameworks help companies and communities identify and mitigate environmental, social, and governance risks early in project development, whether it’s emissions in the supply chain or gaps in genuine community engagement.

• Trust-building Throughout the Value Chain: By demanding transparency and accountability across all actors involved in a value chain, ESG creates a foundation of trust among partners, suppliers, investors, and local communities.

• Strengthen Supply Chains: ESG metrics improve visibility of company sourcing strategies, labour practices, and environmental impacts. In turn, this creates more resilient, efficient, and ethical supply networks which are especially critical for decentralised infrastructure projects with a diverse set of stakeholders.

• Social Impact of Energy Systems: ESG brings critical attention to the social dimensions of energy systems, particularly how they impact local and Indigenous communities. “We need to understand what matters to communities and actively engage them,” Foran emphasises. “That’s what allows us to make smarter, more proactive choices.”

Foran sees decentralised energy not only as a technical innovation but as a social one and ESG is the bridge that ensures both are aligned. If we want systems that are truly sustainable, we need to move beyond just how energy is generated and ask how it’s governed, how it’s experienced, and who it’s designed to serve.

Building the ESG Talent Pipeline

One of the biggest hurdles Foran sees is the lack of ESG-specific training in Canada’s education system. “We’re trying to hire for skills that aren’t widely taught yet,” she says. It’s about finding people with curiosity and foundational knowledge, then building from there.

In a region where traditional industries and legacy systems often dominate, Foran’s mission is nothing short of transformative: helping businesses reimagine their purpose, redefine their impact, and reposition themselves for the future.

“Every day is different,” she says. “Being an entrepreneur in ESG is like raising a newborn—no set routine, lots of sleepless nights—but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Leadership in ESG: Staying Grounded, Empowering Others

As a leader in the ESG space, Nancy Foran underscores a principle that guides both her work and her outlook: humility.

“Be humble. Be kind. Stay curious,” is a mantra that has guided her approach as ESG evolves rapidly across industries and sectors. As ESG standards continuously shift, you have to be willing to ask the hard questions and admit when you don’t have all the answers.

Beyond technical expertise, Foran believes effective ESG leadership hinges on building the right environment. People need to feel empowered to contribute. Leadership, she stresses, must come from more than just the top, rather the best leaders enable others. They create space for collaboration across departments and ensure ESG becomes something shared, not siloed.

Foran’s approach is clear: meaningful sustainability isn’t driven by mandates alone…it’s sustained by culture, trust, and a willingness to grow together.