ESG and sustainable investing

Overview of ESG and sustainable investing

Over the last five years, ‘ESG’ has become a topic of great interest for investors, both individual and institutional. From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, to the current focus on environmental sustainability, a desire to ‘do good’ is at the heart of this growing sector.

While much of the discussion has been about the positive outcomes that can be achieved when companies focus on measuring their performance against core environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, of growing concern to investors globally is truth in labelling and the ability to make sense of a deluge of reporting data.

Data clarity is also at the forefront of regulators minds, as an increasing number of jurisdictions look to mandate ESG reporting frameworks. With more than 2000 standards and disclosure approaches promoted worldwide, and world leaders increasing pressure on corporates to act now to prevent climate change, it is not surprising that preventing ‘greenwashing’ is high on the enforcement agenda.

About our course

Our online course covers the ESG landscape with a particular focus on reporting frameworks. It also explores sustainable investing in Australia, including future regulatory plans, and examines some of the emerging trends and risks.

What is ESG?

The term ‘ESG’ stands for environmental, social and (corporate) governance, referring to the pillars or topic areas within the framework. It is used to assess the sustainability of a company. Essentially, ESG covers all non-financial topics inherent to a company’s day-to-day activities.

ESG reporting is a way to quantifiably measure a company’s impact on society and the environment, using metrics for each of the three pillars.