Last week the financial sector and the international development sector gathered in Geneva to discuss how asset managers, asset owners and banks can contribute to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Here is why one should resist the temptation of cynicism.
ESG News
PRI in Person event
Last month, the Quaero Capital ESG team attended the annual PRI event, this year held in Paris. The event was the largest responsible investment conference ever held, with over 1600 attendees from the industry.
Engagement efforts with CDP
Earlier this year QUAERO CAPITAL became a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an organization that campaigns for better disclosure of environmental performance data from companies, cities, states and regions. It aims to make environmental reporting and risk management a business norm, and drive disclosure, insight and action towards a sustainable economy.
ESG in the US Market
Sustainable investment has evolved in the US market less rapidly than in Europe to date due to multiple reasons, one of which has been less ambitious regulation at the national level. ESG policy has become a partisan issue and the current administration has rolled back regulation, bucking the global trend. A recent whitepaper from Morningstar said that in the US, where climate change is a ‘contested concept’ ESG investment factors must be justified by explaining ‘why’, while in Europe they must explain ‘why not’. Despite this headwind, assets under management in ESG-oriented funds grew 40% to €684bn over the four years to the end of 2018.