“A stock exchange hatched out of Silicon Valley that’s taking on established rivals in New York and Chicago is listing its first two companies.” [COMMENTARY]This new exchange will be fascinating to watch! Will it attract listings? Will it attract investors? I hope that it receives rapid success.Exchange for ethical investments gets off the ground with…

“Despite its growing importance in the capital markets, news about sustainable investing or ESG funds has not trickled down to average U.S. investors. And with the pandemic perhaps shifting investors’ economic priorities, they are expressing less interest in such funds for themselves. Still, the future of sustainable investing looks promising, with younger investors paying closer…

“Since ESG lacks definitions, it can often mean different things to different people, said Lisa Sachs, who heads Columbia University’s Center on Sustainable Investment. And because ESG integration is often conflated with other responsible investment strategies such as impact investing and negative and positive screening, it’s helping to create a false impression that the world…

“The finance sector is increasingly reluctant to finance fossil fuel expansion, and ‘Big Ag’ could be next in the divestment campaign firing line, argues Charlotte Moore from SIGWATCH.” [COMMENTARY]On an individual basis, it’s happening already. I know many individual investors who won’t touch meat stocks. Look at the success of Beyond Meat. Only institutions are…

“Bottom line on ESG: Overall, it must be a force for good to measure company externalities and hold investors accountable in some way. It just seems we got into a weird phase of its evolution with the concentration in mega-cap tech stocks. I look forward to reading about the movement at the end of this…

“As the SEC considers imposing climate-related reporting rules, US companies are divided on what they should look like.” [COMMENTARY]It’s to be expected that issuers will have differing opinions on ESG standards. I expect that there’ll be many common standards but others will be industry-specific.US issuers still split on ESG standards, study finds, by Maria Ward…

“Too many fund firms use strong rhetoric on abuses while lending money to oppressive regimes.” [COMMENTARY]With many ESG rating firms providing sovereign ESG ratings, it seems not much of a step to incorporate more scrutiny of human rights issues. I believe some rating organizations already do this.Bond investors need to step up on human rights,…

“This weekAmory Lovins, co-founder of RMI and clean energy BAMF, released a paper, ‘Decarbonizing our toughest sectors — profitably,‘ encouraging a fresh perspective on the costs of decarbonizing heavy transport and industrial heating.The paper makes the case that deep decarbonization isn’t a cost: It’s an investment that will make communities and companies money.” [COMMENTARY]Amory Lovins…

“How can people better identify greenwashing and help reinforce the growing sense of accountability for ESG standards? Look for these factors.” [COMMENTARY]Some good points in how to identify ‘greenwashing’ in companies are made in this article.5 ways to separate real ESG leadership from greenwashing, by Marjella Lecourt-Alma, August 4, 2021, Fast Company, USA.

“Overall issuance is skyrocketing, but transparency is hard to come by.” [COMMENTARY]There’s a clear need for a universal mechanism for tracing the flow of funds raised via green bonds. Otherwise, confidence in this market could falter, and dealing with climate change negatively affected. This is beside the potential detrimental impact on the stock and bond…

“Until recently, European legislation may not have been at the top of the agenda for financial services firms in the U.S., or anywhere outside the European Union. But two factors might have you suddenly realizing that it’s worth paying attention to EU sustainable investment regulation, regardless of where you’re based. This is, especially true since…

“TheEuropean Green Bond Standardproposal will create a high-quality voluntary standard for bonds financing sustainable investment.Issuers will have a recognised way of demonstrating that they are funding green projects aligned with the EU Taxonomy. Investors will be better able to ascertain that their investments are sustainable, thereby reducing the risk of greenwashing.” [COMMENTARY]This new standard sounds…

“Global regulators took a first step on Monday to unlock the ‘black box’ of corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, suggesting formal oversight of a sector which helps channel trillions of dollars into climate-friendly investment funds. Despite growing influence, ESG raters and data providers are largely unregulated, lack transparency in their methods, offer uneven…

“According toLaw 360reporting on awebcast panel last week, Acting Director of Enforcement Melissa Hodgman, warned that, in addition to ‘increased scrutiny’ of ‘funds touting green investments,’ we may well see more ESG disclosure-related enforcement actions in general.” [COMMENTARY]I believe it’s a good idea that funds and fund managers, etc., live up to what they profess.…

“While assets in sustainable investments declined to $12 trillion in Europe over 2020 from $14 trillion in 2018, the falling assets in attributed to falling investment demand for the ESG theme, Bloomberg reports. The drop in ESG assets in Europe is a result of policy changes that tightened the requirements for what can be considered…

“The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) havemergedinto the Value Reporting Foundation. They and three other sustainability reporting bodies — CDP, Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), known as the Group of Five — have called for closer coordinationand launched aprototype climate-related financial disclosure standard.” [COMMENTARY]It’s…

“Responsible investment assets under management make up a total of 36% of total assets under management.” [COMMENTARY]This is a staggering amount! I can’t help but feel as per the article below (“This World May Be Better Off Without ESG Investing”) that the guidelines of what is sustainable, responsible, etc., are becoming ever weaker. This is…

“Everyone expects the SEC to make climate change and other ESG reporting mandatory, and those tech giants– Amazon, Alphabet, Autodesk, eBay, Facebook, Intel and Salesforce — said in ajoint letterthey support this. What they don’t support is including the information in filings such as annual 10-Ks and quarterly 10-Qs because, they say, it could open…

“The bar for what constitutes a good corporate citizen is abysmally low…This could explain whyExxonandBP, which pose existential threats to the planet, get an average (‘BBB’) aggregate score from MSCI…” [COMMENTARY]In some quarters ethical and sustainable investors invest in companies they consider ‘light,’ ‘medium’ or ‘deep’ green. I think the ESG rating companies need to…

“Without establishing standards for labelling environmental, social and governance (ESG) products, the CFA Institute’s proposed disclosure standards could lead to more ‘greenwashing’ of investment funds, Canada’s fund industry lobby group says.” [COMMENTARY]I wonder if other affected organizations, funds, etc., have come to the same conclusion?CFA Institute’s draft ESG standards could facilitate ‘greenwashing,’ IFIC says, by…