Resource Center

The first half of 2020 saw $200bn in sustainable bonds issued globally with green bonds accounting for nearly half of that. As more companies commit to achieving net-zero emissions and as the world shifts to a low carbon economy, the CEO Investor Forum and Sustainalytics welcome industry experts to weigh in on the state of the sustainable finance market during this one-hour virtual event.

Collecting and processing personal data has become one of the most significant drivers of financial value in today’s economy. But as the upside of personal data grows, so too does the downside risk associated with data security, management and privacy.

To establish how, and to what extent, investors are considering children’s rights in their policies and practices, GES also worked with the Global Child Forum, a Swedish not-for-profit foundation, to survey asset owner PRI signatories in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

The world is changing faster than it ever has. As a result, companies are facing increasingly complex and numerous challenges. They need to adapt faster, and in this process, the board has a crucial role to play. A new vision of the board is needed to help start a process today that will result in them being better prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.

ING Wholesale Banking (WB) is the commercial banking business of ING Bank N.V. Using a forward-looking financing approach that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, ING WB provides banking services for large, multinational corporate clients, banks, insurance companies and other institutional investors.

Placing its clients’ interests centre stage, ABN AMRO understands the importance of delivering optimum service and offering transparent and simple products, while remaining at the forefront of technological developments and innovative solutions for client convenience. As part of its fiduciary duty and as a bank that commits to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, ABN AMRO has a detailed plan for ESG integration, engagement and sustainable investing.

An increasing number of financial institutions integrate sustainability considerations such as environment, social and governance factors into their investment decisions and product development. Increased customer awareness, regulations, and growing evidence of the long-term benefits of considering sustainability in investment decisions has led to a significant growth in the sustainable finance field.

Sustainalytics is committed to developing additional products and services to help investors meet other requirements related to the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan.

Sustainalytics hosted an online panel discussion about recent trends, company engagement and developments in modern slavery, along with a preview of Sustainalytics’ thematic engagement on modern slavery.

Overlaying Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings onto the FTSE AW Index, we found that 24 percent of the benchmark’s market cap was rated as having high to severe levels of ESG risk. In addition, over the course of Q4 2018 the negligible to low ESG risk companies outperformed the benchmark by 55 basis points. Our sample portfolio containing 300 best-in-class ESG performers would have returned 77 basis points more than the benchmark in Q4.

The Water Stewardship and Risk Engagement combines both scale and detail, and covers the food and beverage, mining and garment sectors, which are associated with a high level of water risk. This engagement links water policy and practices in these three sectors to the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all)

An estimated 40 million people are currently oppressed by modern slavery and companies are under increasing pressure to manage this issue to mitigate operational disruptions as well as compliance and reputational risks. Sustainalytics, FSI and Suncorp tackle this issue on Sustainalytics’ Perspectives on Modern Slavery – Australia webinar.

In 10 for 2018, we focus on the ESG issues we anticipate could pose significant risks for investors. The ESG issues in focus fall into four broad themes: water management, climate change, consumer protection and stakeholder governance. Learn more about the stories behind these issues below.

Econopolis combines financial analysis with its qualitative evaluation of management and macro-economic themes to construct a portfolio that it believes will be competitive and sustainable in the long term. Their qualitative approach to ESG presented them with two challenges: How can they measure their ESG performance against that of other leading responsible investors? And, how can they reassure clients that their approach is credible?

GES has engaged the cocoa industry for many years to increase its effort in tackling the issue of child labour. As a part of its long-term engagement, GES published its second public report on the issue, including investor expectations and a corporate benchmark of leading cocoa and chocolate companies.

Since 2012, GES together with the Polish Association of Listed Companies, a self-government organization of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, has been involved in an educational project ESG analysis of companies in Poland aimed at increasing disclosure and transparency of reporting on non-financial indicators.

This report, Gaining Ground: Corporate Progress on the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability, evaluates how well 613 of the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies are integrating sustainability into their business systems and decision-making. The report— a collaboration between Ceres and Sustainalytics—assesses corporate progress across the four strategic areas first outlined in 2010 in the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability: Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, Disclosure and Performance.

Our experts will assess the ESG impact of a company’s activities and products, including corporate social responsibility programs, supply chain spending, and operations.

Cleaner shipping has been a trending topic particularly since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) declared that 2020 will mark the “beginning of a decade of action and delivery” for the shipping industry.[i] A key approach to cleaner shipping is for companies to renew their fleet with more environmental-friendly vessels. However, this approach triggers an obsolescence of older vessels and increases shipbreaking activity. In Sustainalytics’ 10 for 2020 report, we mention the issue of shipping practices with large environmental impacts including shipbreaking practices which we will explore more in depth in this article.

Download our Sustainability-Linked Bonds Methodology backgrounder to understand our approach to assess alignment with the Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBP).