This encyclical doesn't break new ground so much as ratify a governance effort that's already underway, led not by states or international bodies but by shareholders. When governments fail to meaningfully regulate, and corporations cannot be trusted to do what is beneficial beyond their own bottom line, people in society still have the power to set us on the right path
The argument that shareholders are filling the regulatory vacuum is both empirically interesting and structurally fragile. Shareholder activism depends on institutional investors prioritizing ESG over returns — a position under constant pressure. If fiduciary duty arguments win in court, the entire governance apparatus described here loses its legal standing. The Pope's authority cannot shore up what securities law might undermine.