Sustainable Investing: A new dawn
Discussing sustainable outcomes with leading ESG professionals.
The world is at risk. Our planet is facing numerous exponential threats. Tackling global warming, environmental degradation, and the negative externalities associated with them is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a clear need to shift companies and global economies to more sustainable models, whilst also changing engrained consumer habits.
Though the journey ahead is long, it must start with the first step. For the investment community, it seems as though that first step has well and truly been taken… Sustainable investing is now one of, if not THE, hottest investment topic at the moment — and it continues to build momentum. Whether that’s due to the net-zero target, regulation, or personal preference, ESG issues are at the forefront of many investors’ minds. And crucially, investors are no longer willing to overlook this in favour of performance.
They want to see change and they want to see it now! Candriam leads the sustainability discussion in their featured paper ‘Circular Economy: Paradise restored?’ In this paper, Candriam defines a circular economic model and discusses how the transition from a linear model is imperative for the globe’s inhabitants. Governments worldwide have already made big commitments to help move economies in the right direction, however consumers and companies also have a vital role to play. For Candriam it’s not a choice, the shift to a circular economy is essential.
In our second featured paper, Qontigo provide an overview of the STOXX Paris-Aligned Benchmark Indices. They outline how Qontigo help to encourage climate stewardship and corporate engagement among firms, whilst pushing them to provide solutions for the challenges ahead. These indices also reward companies that are assisting in the transition to a lowcarbon economy and firms that are on track to meet their carbon budget targets by including them within the index.
Read the full paper here.