Greenbiz just held their first GreenFin Summit, which brings about 100 sustainability and Investment professionals together under one roof with the common goal to “assess what it would take to align corporate reporting with investor needs in order to accelerate investments in sustainable and low-carbon solutions.”
This is a big deal and a good start as the people who were in attendance have the finances and power to help bring about serious changes and create many opportunities for sustainable businesses.
Based the article; “Corporate reporting on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues has moved from the margins to the mainstream” So what’s next?
Well, while everything is a process, here are a few things that have happened already:
- Advocates petitioned the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission mandate standardized disclosure of ESG information by publicly traded companies
- Credit raters have tried to incorporate ESG factors into their ratings
- European Commission has proposed regulations asking Institutional investors and money managers to demonstrate how their investments align with ESG factors.
- S&P Global Ratings, among other credit rating agencies, have signed onto the United Nations-led Principles for Responsible Investment’s ESG In Credit Ratings Initiative, which aims to standardize ESG issues in fixed-income markets.
Now, high ESG ratings are a sign of a well-run and lower risk company which investors like. However, with all the positives that have come in recently there are many road blocks and problems that still exist such as lack of understanding in corporate boards, with no thought being put into the reporting, and time lags with the reporting sometimes a year or two old amongst other issues.
Honestly I’m just happy that these conversations are being had as they were never before. And while change doesn’t happen over night we have to start somewhere, so this give me hope for a more sustainable future!
Cited:
Two Steps Forward, Can companies and investors see eye to eye on ESG? Joel Makower, March 5, 2019
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/can-companies-and-investors-see-eye-eye-esg
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