Amidst the political uncertainties and soaring market volatility, what about ESG? Energy is, of course, at the center of the debate, and supporters of the renewable team are hailing its merits. But, as always with sustainability, it’s complicated. Faced with so much to think about, not many managers were available for comments this week. In this initial overview of the Ukraine conflict’s potential impact on ESG investing, Lewis Grant at Federated Hermes and Triodos Investment Management‘s Dirk Hoozemans answered our questions on Russian gas, the eternal debate on engagement over exclusions and sovereign ESG assessments.
In the short term, the urgency of climate change mitigation may also be overshadowed by the war, as was the release of the IPCC‘s second report, which, unsurprisingly, received much less attention than the first one, so far.
Meanwhile, the Snap picked up on SEB‘s change of heart, as the Nordic green giant reclassifies defence as sustainable again. Despite the turmoil, the Nordic Investment Bank managed to issue a € half-billion green bond, showing the resilience the green stamp may procure. In a more brown-coloured industry, we took a closer look at Danske Bank‘s new guidelines for shipping companies wishing to access transition-linked financing. Also in the Nordics, Norges Bank IM, announced its intention to use its significant holding in Apple and vote for improved sustainability at the company’s upcoming AGM.
The EU’s Social Taxonomy has reached a milestone at the end of February, as the Platform on Sustainable Finance submitted its final proposal. And to round up the week, after a tenure of 18 years, Kerstin Hessius will be leaving the helm of Swedish state pension AP3. Finally, we also caught up with Julie Moret, who joined Northern Trust Asset Management last year as Global Head of Sustainable Investing and Stewardship. She tells us about the different take on ESG on both sides of the Atlantic.
