Around the globe, a third of all professionally managed assets, or roughly USD$30 trillion, are now subject to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, which represents an increase of more than 30% since 2016.[1] ESG concerns continue to gain importance in Canada. In particular, sustainable finance has also gained tremendous momentum and institutionalization in the investment, capital markets, and lending communities.
What has changed in recent years is the increased focus placed on environmental and social issues by the investment community, and in particular, by large institutional investors. Banks, pension funds, companies and issuers alike are being pressured by their shareholders, members and investors, and by NGOs, to direct investments to companies viewed as having positive environmental and societal impacts and to “disinvest” from industries and jurisdictions perceived to have negative impacts.[2]
For a high-level overview on sustainable finance and the current trends in Canada, read the complete article here.
This piece was originally published on dentons.com
[1] https://hbr.org/2021/01/esg-impact-is-hard-to-measure-but-its-not-impossible
[2] To read more about ESG issues in general, see the following Dentons Insight articles: Environment and climate change trends to watch in 2021: Increasing focus on ESG in the mining sector and Modern Slavery and Supply Chains: A Significant ESG Consideration.
