It is a framework that helps stakeholders understand how an organization manages risks and opportunities related to Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria (sometimes called ESG factors). ESG takes the holistic view that sustainability extends beyond just environmental issues.

ESG is a rating system used by companies to measure their environmental and social credentials. SDG 14 deals with ESG.

ESTs are technologies that have the potential for significantly improved environmental performance relative to other technologies. ESTs protect the environment, are less polluting, use resources in a sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle all residual wastes in a more environmentally acceptable way than the technologies for which they are substitutes. ESTs are not just individual technologies.

They can also be defined as total systems that include know-how, procedures, goods and services, and equipment, as well as organizational and managerial procedures for promoting environmental sustainability. Target 17.7 of the SDG 17 covers ESTs. It states that “Promote the development, transfer, dissemination, and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed.