Global Reporting Initiative welcomes the European Green Deal as a global game changer that other economies should follow. With ambitious legislative changes backed by €1 trillion investment over the next decade, the EU is signalling leadership in efforts to advance sustainable development and tackle climate change.

European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis recently provided details on the implementation of the Green Deal Investment Plan – including strengthening sustainability reporting by companies. He set out that:

• The EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive is to be reviewed, with new requirements for companies to increase disclosures on sustainability risks and opportunities      
• The EU will establish “clear reporting standards” based on the “best and most widely accepted elements of what exists”
• The Green Deal has to be part of wider global efforts and funding commitments in order to “scale up sustainable finance at the level that the world needs”

GRI chief executive Tim Mohin said:

“Sustainable development is a singular and indisputable global priority. One important catalyst to a sustainable future is transparency: the ability for all stakeholders to evaluate the impacts and benefits of corporate activities. Sustainability disclosure was pioneered by GRI over twenty years ago and now is a fixture in nearly every multinational enterprise.

But more must be done. We are just ten years from the deadlines to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and need to accelerate progress under the Paris Climate Agreement. I applaud the leadership shown by the European Commission, which is now moving with urgency by committing €1 trillion to fund the transition.

While the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive has been successful, we believe reporting must improve. We stand ready to work with the EU to cooperate on these improvements, but we must not reinvent nor move backwards.

With these actions, the EU is providing leadership for the world. We need to support the global common language for reporting, backed by strong policy and oversight. This will unlock trade and investment that is aligned with sustainable development.”

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

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References:

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-press-center/Pages/Sustainability-reporting-at-center-of-EUs-Green-Deal.aspx

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US SIF report: Sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets increased by 38% in the United States to $12.0 trillion, from $8.7 trillion in 2016.  Tweet This!

According to the US SIF Foundation’s 2018 biennial Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends, sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets account today for $12.0 trillion of the $46.6 trillion in total assets under professional management in the United States.

Asset managers are responsible for much of this growth, as – following client demand – they now take into account environmental, social or corporate governance (ESG) criteria across $11.6 trillion in assets (an increase of 44% from $8.1 trillion in 2016). The three key issues asset managers and their institutional investor clients mostly consider are climate change/carbon, tobacco and conflict risk.

The report identified $11.6 trillion in ESG integration assets under management at the beginning of 2018, held by 496 institutional investors, 365 money managers and 1,145 community investing financial institutions.

“Money managers and institutions are utilizing ESG criteria and shareholder engagement to address a plethora of issues including climate change, diversity, human rights, weapons and political spending,” said Lisa Woll, US SIF Foundation CEO.

The leading ESG criteria

Different ESG criteria are prominent among money managers (i.e. firms managing assets on behalf of others) and institutional asset owners (entities such as pension funds, foundations and educational endowments that own and invest assets).

• Asset managers: Climate change was the single most important ESG issue for money managers. From 2016 to 2018, the assets to which climate change related to more than doubled, to $3.0 trillion. Other ESG topics that money managers consider include tobacco, conflict risk, human rights, transparency/anti-corruption and civilian firearms.
• Asset owners: Conflict risk was the most important issue among institutional asset owners, increasing by 8% from 2016 to $3.0 trillion. Tobacco, carbon/climate change, board issues and executive pay followed in importance.

Other findings include:

• Both the number and assets under management of registered investment companies integrating ESG issues continued to increase. Assets in mutual funds reached $2.6 trillion (an increase of 34% compared to 2016) and the number of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) more than doubled, from 25 to 69.
• At the beginning of 2018, ESG assets under management in 780 alternative investment vehicles amounted to $588 billion, almost three times the assets identified in 2016.
• The community investing sector – which includes community development banks, credit unions, loan and venture funds – grew rapidly during the last decade, almost doubling in assets between 2014 and 2016 and growing by more than 50% from 2016 to 2018.

About US SIF

US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment promotes sustainable, responsible and impact investing across all asset classes, to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organisations and non-profit organisations. 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by US SIF. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.ussif.org/trends

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According to a new survey by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, among 1,000 active individual investors, interest in sustainable investing continues to grow steadily, especially among a younger generation of investors: Millennials, who believe that their investments can have a positive social and environmental impact.

Millennial investors tend to incorporate sustainability into their decisions. In fact, since 2014 sustainable investing has increased by more than 33%, from $6.57 trillion to almost $9 trillion.

More specifically, according to the survey:

• 86 per cent of Millennials are interested in sustainable investing  Tweet This!
• Millennial investors are twice as likely, compared to other investors, to invest in companies focused on social or environmental targets
• 89 per cent of Millennials are interested in sustainable investments that could be customized to respond to their interests and goals
• 75 per cent of Millennial investors believe that their investments may “influence the amount of climate change caused by human activities”
• 84 per cent of Millennials believe that their investment decisions may help lift people out of poverty
• 61 per cent of Millennial investors have taken at least one sustainability-related investment action over the last year
• 90 per cent of Millennial investors are interested in pursuing sustainable investments as part of their 401(k) portfolios

Audrey Choi, Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Morgan Stanley, said that, with widespread attention to sustainability issues and objectives steadily increasing, “consumers and investors alike are now more than ever factoring sustainability issues into their investment decisions”.

References:

This article was compiled using a press release by Morgan Stanley and the publication “Sustainable Signals New Data from the Individual Investor”. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the press release’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the links below:

https://www.morganstanley.com/press-releases/morgan-stanley-survey-finds-interest-in-sustainable-investing-st

http://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/sustainable-socially-responsible-investing-millennials-drive-growth

http://www.morganstanley.com/pub/content/dam/msdotcom/ideas/sustainable-signals/pdf/Sustainable_Signals_Whitepaper.pdf

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In order to investigate investors’ attitudes towards sustainable investing (investing in companies or funds striving to achieve a positive social and/or environmental impact), identifying trends and expectations, the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing surveyed 800 individual investors, including 200 Millennials (18- to 32-year-olds).

Key findings include:

• 71% of the individual investors surveyed were interested in sustainable investing and 65% thought sustainable investing would become more widespread in the next five years

• 84% of Millennial investors were interested in sustainable investing. More specifically, Millennial investors were:
  • almost twice more likely, compared to the rest, to invest in companies or funds striving to achieve specific social and/or environmental results
  • almost twice as likely to invest in companies or funds that used their environmental, social or governance practices to gain a competitive advantage
  • more than twice as likely to not invest in a company because of offensive business activities

• As workers and consumers, Millennial investors were:
  • almost three times more likely (compared to the rest) to choose an employer because of the employer’s approach to social and/or environmental issues
  • almost twice as likely to purchase a product based on a company’s social and/or environmental impact and check a product’s packaging using sustainability criteria

• Female investors were more interested in sustainable investing compared to male investors, were almost twice as likely to take into consideration both rate of return and a positive impact when making their investment decisions and were, also, more likely to think about sustainability in their decision making as consumers

• 45% of individual investors saw companies that integrated sustainability into their business practices as more innovative, 30% thought they attracted better talent and 72% believed such companies were capable of becoming more profitable and were better long-term investment choices

References:

This article was compiled using a paper published by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the paper’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the link below:

https://www.morganstanley.com/sustainableinvesting/pdf/Sustainable_Signals.pdf

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