When investors try to flag concerns to Facebook and Twitter about social media-related issues, the two tech giants often respond with stonewalling and obstruction. Google appears little better. Here we set out why.
India’s Adani Group, the world’s largest private developer of fossil fuels, is still securing funding for its Carmichael project in Australia despite investors increasingly withdrawing support and rising negative sentiment against coal. But how long will it be able to do so?
We take a look back at the ten most popular ESG and sustainability stories of the year among our readers.
A series of forthcoming policy and industry initiatives this year should help banks and asset managers understand and report their impact on nature, but full integration of such risks still looks some way off.
Investors that are early adopters of fossil fuel exclusion policies tend to rank highly on voting, while some vocal critics of divestment are not as active on engagement as their stance might suggest, new data reveals.
After a split, two groups recently launched separate ESG-focused guidance on securities lending, while the US SEC plans to make the practice less opaque and help assess its effect on shareholder voting. Investors hope the moves will make the business more sustainable and transparent.
With labelling confusion at the heart of recent ‘greenwashing’ cases, it’s no surprise that clearer fund explanations are investors’ top priority. The distinct lack of Paris-aligned funds only goes to highlight this.
Billions of dollars are pouring into the clean energy that is seen as crucial for the transition to net-zero emissions. But the financial sector is not taking sufficient account of what happens to such assets when they reach the end of their life. It may soon have to.
Announced at Cop26, the Denmark and Costa Rica-led initiative to stop new oil and gas exploration projects could – alongside growing pressure from investors – help drive changes in fossil fuel policies.
Intense disagreement has broken out over asset managers’ fragmented net-zero target-setting approach, with some suggesting it is easy to game the system.
One of Africa’s biggest polluters, energy and chemicals group Sasol has repeatedly refused to table resolutions calling for disclosure of climate lobbying activities. Similarly obstructive tactics have been used elsewhere, including in Europe.
Under pressure from the financial sector, the EU, G7 and other influential bodies are ramping up the push to achieve consistent measurement and reporting of sustainability impact amid concerns that separate initiatives are hindering this goal.
With investors pushing back on what they see as weak or immaterial claims by issuers of sustainability-linked debt, banks are now citing similar concerns – though they are still arranging deals seen as questionable.
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