The set of criteria (Environmental, Social, Governance) used to evaluate corporations' non-financial impacts and risks — promoted by institutional investors like BlackRock and WEF as a framework for sustainable investing.
Non-financial risk framework: ESG emerged from the UN's 2004 'Who Cares Wins' initiative as a framework for integrating environmental, social, and governance factors into investment analysis. The argument: these factors represent material risks (climate risk, governance failures, labor disputes) that will affect long-term financial returns. ESG ratings agencies (MSCI, Sustainalytics) provide scores. The concept has become a culture-war flashpoint: red-state attorneys general have filed suits against BlackRock and others for using ESG to impose political priorities at the expense of fiduciary duty; some states have passed anti-ESG legislation. The EU's SFDR has made ESG disclosure mandatory in Europe.
Discussing
Ask anything about Environmental, Social, and Governance — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.
Sign in to start a conversation.