Climate change, diversity, and systemic inequality topped the ESG agenda in 2020 – MENAFN.COM

Climate change, diversity, and systemic inequality topped the ESG agenda in 2020 – MENAFN.COM

The landscape for global corporations and their role in environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters experienced a tectonic shift in 2020 that will likely reverberate for decades to come. The deadliest global pandemic in a century, accelerating evidence of a warming planet, and a backlash against systemic racial and income inequality pressured corporations and society at large to acknowledge and act upon these and other ESG-related challenges. In its third , T. Rowe Price highlights a need for improved disclosure from corporations and asset managers on ESG issues. While regulators around the world are stepping up to fill the disclosure void, the firm urges more comprehensive, clear and globally aligned regulation. If different regulatory regimes are established in each country, ESG disclosure requirements for asset managers could become misaligned with those required of the underlying companies in their portfolios. Uneven levels of disclosure could ultimately distort the picture of a portfolio's ESG characteristics, the company notes. T. Rowe Price guides its investee companies toward industry best practice disclosure standards and advocates alignment with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)—both globally recognized frameworks that emphasize financial materiality. T. Rowe Price also actively