Is ESG a bottom-line risk?

Is ESG a bottom-line risk?

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Thanks to those of you who read and commented on our interview last week with Tariq Fancy, whose words sparked some clear opposition from the environmental, social and governance community.

“Sure, ESG is by no means perfect . . . but to write off the entire ESG space as misrepresenting what they’re doing and having no impact at all is just plain wrong,” said Martin Whittaker, head of Just Capital, which has partnered with Goldman Sachs on an ESG exchange-traded fund. 

Further, most investors do not view ESG as a “substitution” for government action, but rather “investing is just one strategy for better ESG outcomes”, Lisa Woll, chief executive of US SIF, wrote on LinkedIn.

For a snapshot of such government action, I wanted to highlight recent articles from UK energy colleague Natalie Thomas. On the one hand, UK ministers are trying to foster a hydrogen economy with subsidies, but a slower UK phase out of new gas boilers has infuriated environmentalists. Meanwhile, UK ministers have launched an investigation into how energy suppliers market renewable electricity deals, following greenwashing criticisms. Who thought August would be slow? Patrick Temple-West

ESG: from corporate cheerleading