Does the market care about ethical investment? It depends
Washington regulators and corporate America are rushing to adopt new corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.
ESG lobbying surges with Democratic control of Washington
More lobbyists reported raising environmental, social and governance issues with U.S. officials and lawmakers this year, with Democrats now controlling Washington, than ever before. “ESG” has been steadily appearing in more federal quarterly lobbying reports in recent years, according to a review of filings by CQ Roll Call. After the first mention of ESG came in mid-2018, references to the topic climbed during the final years of the Trump administration, which largely opposed the consideration of ESG and sustainability issues in regulation and legislation. Those issues are now at their highest point as regulators and members of Congress prepare policy on climate change.
The SEC Demands a One-Size-Fits-All Climate ‘Risk’ Disclosure System
Modesty is not a defining characteristic for numerous policy-makers in Washington, among them regulators asserting that climate “risks” are significant for individual firms and economic sectors — precisely how do they know? — and that, therefore, they must be reported so that investors can have more rather than less information. Allison Herren Lee, the acting Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, argued recently as follows: Investors are demanding more and better information on climate and ESG, and that demand is not being met by the current voluntary framework.