Environmental, social and governance investment standardization: moving towards sustainable economy
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ee.10(1).2019.02
-
Article InfoVolume 10 2019, Issue #1, pp. 12-22
- Cited by
- 3456 Views
-
533 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This paper is devoted to the investigation of environmental, social and governance investment (investment with ESG criterion) normative base in the context of standardization process in sustainable economy financing. Complexity of such standardization and the lack of commonly accepted regulations, indexes metrics are under discussions of scholars, which encourage the need for clear guidance in ESG investment. 651 sustainability rating products and more than 300 investment policy instruments in different countries show the need for classifying the ESG standards. The solution of this scientific and practical task is based on the developed ESG investment standards system classifications. Proposed classification incorporates such criteria as level of standards adoption, mandatory degree, sectorial specificity, degree of companies’ awareness of responsible activity, ensuring transparency and the benchmarks formation, creating the institutional support of the ESG investment standardization process in sustainable economy and making more grounded investment and regulatory decisions.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)Q00, Q01, G11
-
References20
-
Tables2
-
Figures5
-
- Figure 1. Standards distribution in the ESG investment sphere in the largest 50 countries in the world in 2016
- Figure 2. Sustainability products in 2017
- Figure 3. Structure of sustainability ratings issuers in 2017
- Figure 4. Target audience of sustainability ratings in 2017
- Figure 5. Criteria for the compilation of sustainability ratings in 2017
-
- Table 1. Countries’ experience in ESG investment process regulation
- Table 2. Key benchmarks in the ESG investment system
-
- Brunsson, N., & Jacobsson, B. (2000). A world of standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Cadman, T. (2011). Evaluating the governance of responsible investment institutions: an environmental and social perspective. Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment, 1(1), 20-29.
- Cadman, T. (2012). The Legitimacy of ESG Standards as an Analytical Framework for Responsible Investment. In W. Vandekerckhove, J. Leys, K. Alm, B. Scholtens, S. Signori, H. Schäfer (Eds.) Responsible Investment in Times of Turmoil. Issues in Business Ethics, 31. Dordrecht: Springer.
- Carver, J. (2010). A Case for Global Governance Theory: Practitioners Avoid It, Academics Narrow It, the World Needs It. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 18(2), 149-157.
- Déjean, F., Gond J.-P., & Leca, B. (2004). Measuring the unmeasured: An institutional entrepreneur strategy in an emerging industry. Human Relations, 57, 741-764.
- GISR. (2017). Corporate Sustainability. ESG Ratings Products.
- Hawley, J., & Williams, A. (2005). Shifting Ground: Emerging Global Corporate-governance Standards and the Rise of Fiduciary Capitalism. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 37(11), 1995-2013.
- Kerwer, D. (2005). Rules that many use: Standards and global regulation. Governance, 18(4), 611-632.
- Kurtz, L. (2008). Socially responsible investment and shareholder activism. In A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon & D. S. Siegel (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 249-267). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Power, M. (1997). The audit society: Rituals of verification. New York: Oxford University Press.
- PRI. (2016a). Global guide to responsible investment regulation.
- PRI. (2016b). Responsible investment regulation map.
- Rivoli, P. (2003). Making a difference or making a statement? Finance research and socially responsible investment. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(3), 271-287.
- Sandberg, J., Juravle, C., Hedesström, T. M., & Hamilton, I. (2009). The Heterogeneity of Socially Responsible Investment. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 519.
- SHIFT. (2017). About GISR. Vision and Mission.
- Slager, R., Gond, J.-P., & Moon, J. (2012). Standardization as Institutional Work: The Regulatory Power of a Responsible Investment Standard. Organization Studies, 33(5-6), 763-790.
- UNEP, & World Bank. (2016). Roadmap for a sustainable financial system.
- UNEP FI, & Mercer. (2007). Demystifying Responsible Investment Performance.
- West, A. (2009). Corporate Governance Convergence and Moral Relativism. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 17(1), 107-119.
- Windolph, S. E. (2011). Assessing Corporate Sustainability through Ratings: Challenges and Their Causes. Journal of Environmental Sustainability, 1(1), 36-57.