Purpose – This study analyzes the impact of country-level governance factors which are Voice and Accountability, Political Stability, and Regulatory Quality on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance in Asian countries. This research focuses on the natural resources sector, which is highly related to environmental and social risks to see how differences in national governance frameworks shape the corporate sustainability outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a quantitative panel data analysis using an unbalanced sample of 649 natural resources companies across 18 Asian countries over the period of 2015 to 2024 which results in 3,193 firm year observations. Secondary data were obtained from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) for governance variables and Refinitiv for ESG performance and firm financial data. The analysis is conducted using Fixed Effects regression with Weighted Least Squares (WLS) to address heteroscedasticity and unobserved heterogeneity. Findings – The results show that Voice and Accountability has a strong and consistently positive effect on ESG performance which indicates that greater transparency, public participation and freedom to express encourage firms to adopt stronger sustainability practices. Political Stability also positively influences ESG performance and more in the lagged model which suggests that stable political environments support the gradual and consistent development of long term ESG efforts. On the other hand, Regulatory Quality resulted in a negative and statistically significant relationship with ESG performance which implies that regulations focus on economic efficiency without certain sustainability objectives that may discourage ESG engagement in the natural resources sector. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to 18 Asian countries due to data availability on ESG, which may limit the general findings to other regions. Additionally, the analysis focuses on country level governance indicators which might overlook subnational institutional differences and enforcement quality. Future research could expand the country sample or include other high risk sectors. Practical implications – The findings suggest that improving ESG performance requires more than firm level initiatives. Governments should strengthen accountability mechanisms, have consistent political stability and contribute sustainability objectives into regulatory frameworks. Firms operating in weak governance environments are encouraged to adopt more proactive ESG strategies to maintain legitimacy and attract responsible investment. Originality/value – This study contributes to the ESG literature by integrating Institutional Theory with country level governance analysis in the Asia natural resources sector. By focusing on ESG performance rather than disclosure and employing a dynamic panel approach, this research provides new empirical evidence on how institutional environments could contribute to corporate sustainability behavior in the diverse economies in Asia.