“Our recently published research explores this question by looking at the actual sustainability impact that these funds have. Although financial industry groups claim that one-third of all investment assets are already sustainable, our research shows most ESG investing actually does not create any meaningful sustainability impact.”

[COMMENTARY] It seems true that most ‘light’ ESG funds would have any obvious, meaningful, ESG/sustainability impacts. However, companies with high ESG ratings frequently have relatively higher stock prices and thus can act as an impetus to lower ranking ESG companies to improve their ESG status.
Who decides what ESG is and how to make investments greener – new research, by Johannes Petry, Jan Fichtner, and Robin Jaspert, July 4, 2023, The Conversation, Canada.