Sustainability: Evolution and Key Trends

As part of our Distinguished Speakers programme, Leon Saunders Calvert, Head of Sustainable Finance, Lipper and I&A Insights at Refinitiv discusses how focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has increased massively in the last few years. Why is this? What are the driving factors that are behind this trend? Is it likely to last or is it a fad? Is continued focus dependent on the altruism of companies and markets or is focus on this space core to their self-interest? How can you judge who is really taking this seriously and who is just ticking boxes? Can we demonstrate correlation between a positive ESG footprint and financial returns? And what are the consequences in terms of the creation and allocation of capital to a sustainable economy of our ability to continue to maintain momentum and mature our thinking around ESG?