ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? (2024)

ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance?

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Explore the basic fundamentals of ESG investing


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What is ESG?


What is ESG?

ESG investing is a term that is often used interchangeably with sustainable investing, socially responsible investing, mission-related investing, or screening.


Remy Quote

At MSCI, we define ESG Investing as the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors alongside financial factors in the investment decision-making process.

Remy Briand, Managing Director, MSCI ESG Research


What are the common investor objectives?

What are the common investor objectives?

When it comes to ESG investing, one size does not fit all. Under the ESG investing umbrella, we have identified three common investor objectives or motivations when considering an ESG strategy: Integration, Values and Impact.

In order to achieve these objectives, investors may pursue different approaches such as ESG integration, exclusionary or negative screening, or thematic investing, to name a few. Here we share the differences between socially responsible investing (SRI), values-based investing, impact investing, and other commonly used terms in the market.


What are the common investor objectives?

Objective:

Investing with a systematic and explicit inclusion of ESG risks and opportunities with the intention to enhance long-term risk-adjusted returns.

Common approaches:

Bottom-up ESG integration

Investing with a systematic and explicit inclusion of ESG risks and opportunities in investment analysis.

Top-down ESG integration

Investing with a systematic and explicit inclusion of ESG factors in portfolio construction.

Best-in-class selection

Preferring companies with better or improving ESG profiles relative to sector peers.

Thematic investing

Investing based on trends or structural shifts, such as social, industrial and demographic trends.

Active ownership

Entering into a dialogue with companies on ESG issues and exercising both ownership rights and voice to effect change.

Objective:

Investing in alignment with an organization or individual's moral values and beliefs.

Common approaches:

Best-in-class selection

Preferring companies with better or improving ESG profiles relative to sector peers.

Exclusionary or negative screening

Avoiding securities on the basis of an organization or individual's values, standards and norms, or other ESG considerations.

Active ownership

Entering into a dialogue with companies on ESG issues and exercising both ownership rights and voice to effect change.

Socially responsible investing (SRI)

A traditional umbrella term that can be used to describe a values-based approach to investing, with an eye towards reducing exposure to negative externalities. Also known as "ethical investing" or "norms-based investing."

Faith-based investing:

Aligning investments with faith-based values. Faith-based investing often involves avoiding investments in companies whose business activities are viewed as violating the teachings of a given faith. It may also include aims to generate measurable social (or occasionally environmental) impacts.

Objective:

Investing with the intention to support positive social or environmental benefits alongside a financial return.

Common approaches:

Impact investing

Investing with the intention to generate measurable positive social or environmental benefits.

Thematic investing

Investing based on trends or structural shifts, such as social, industrial and demographic trends.

Active ownership

Entering into a dialogue with companies on ESG issues and exercising both ownership rights and voice to effect change.

Mission-related investing

Aligning investments with organizational values or to further philanthropic goals. Mission-related investments often aim to generate measurable positive social or environmental impacts. Often interchangeable with "impact investing."

Why is ESG growth accelerating?

Why is ESG growth accelerating?

Global sustainability challenges such as flood risk and rising sea levels, privacy and data security, demographic shifts, and regulatory pressures, are introducing new risk factors for investors that may not have been seen previously. As companies face rising complexity on a global scale, investors may reevaluate traditional investment approaches.

ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? (1)

  • The world is changing

    Global challenges, such as climate risk, increased regulatory pressures, social and demographic shifts and privacy and data security concerns, represent new or increasing risks for investors. The economic pressure the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on some industries has affected companies’ exposure to ESG risks and their ability to manage them. Companies face rising complexities and greater scrutiny if they are not adequately managing their ESG or climate risk.

ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? (2)

  • A new generation of investors

    The interest from millennial investors around the world has already helped drive the rapid growth in ESG investment. In a 2018 survey, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that they could "conservatively estimate" USD 20 trillion of assets growth in U.S.-domiciled ESG funds alone over the next two decades.1

ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? (3)

  • Better data and technology for more meaningful insights

    Advanced technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and alternative data extraction techniques help minimize our reliance on voluntary disclosure from companies. Machine learning and natural language processing help us increase the timeliness and precision of data collection, analysis and validation to deliver dynamic content and financially relevant ESG insights.

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Dive into ESG Investing

Dive into ESG Investing


Deconstructing ESG Ratings Performance

Navigating the Complexities of Labeled bonds

Labeled bonds not only grew as a market in the years since 2014; they became increasingly complex.


The Evolution of ESG Investing

The Evolution of ESG Investing

ESG investing is growing exponentially as more investors and issuers utilize ESG and climate data and tools to support their investment decision-making.


Foundations of ESG Investing

Foundations of ESG Investing

Changes in a company’s ESG characteristics may be a useful financial indicator.


ESG Funds in Focus

ESG Funds in Focus

Quantifying ESG risks and opportunities for mutual funds and ETFs.


ESG Transparency Tools


ESG Transparency Tools card

ESG Fund Ratings Search Tool ESG Fund Ratings aim to measure the resilience of mutual funds and ETFs to long term risks and opportunities.
Index Profile Search Tool Explore ESG and climate metrics for all MSCI equity, fixed income and blended indexes regulated by the EU.

Explore our ESG & Climate Solutions

Explore our ESG & Climate Solutions


ESG Investing

ESG Investing

ESG Investing is growing exponentially as more investors and issuers utilize ESG and climate data and tools to support their investment decision making.

Climate Solutions

MSCI offers a suite of tools to help institutional investors benchmark, measure and manage portfolio exposure to climate risk, identify low carbon investment opportunities, and support investors seeking to set a net-zero target.

ESG Indexes

MSCI ESG Indexes are designed to represent the performance of the most common ESG investment approaches by including, re-weighting or excluding companies by leveraging ESG criteria.

Climate Lab Enterprise

Climate Lab Enterprise provides institutional investors with the tools and services they need for net-zero alignment.


ESG Investing contact us

If you would like to learn more about our ESG & Climate Solutions:

Contact us


Related Content

Related content

Principles of Sustainable Investing

The world is rapidly changing and its interdependency and interconnectivity are accelerating at an exponential pace.

Read more

Visualizing Investment Data

We explore and explain topics covering ESG, Climate, thematic, and global investing through visually impactful infographics.

Explore more

Why ESG?

This interactive page explores the rapid rise in ESG investing, thedrivers of growth, how you can integrate ESG and climate into yourinvestment processes.

Learn more

ESG 101 footnotes

1Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ESG Matters – US. “10 reasons you should care about ESG” https://www.bofaml.com/content/dam/boamlimages/documents/articles/ID19_1119/esg_matters.pdf


ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? (2024)

FAQs

ESG 101: What is Environmental, Social and Governance? ›

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is a strategic framework for identifying, assessing, and addressing organizational objectives and activities ranging from the company's carbon footprint and commitment to sustainability, to its workplace culture and commitment to diversity and inclusion, to its ...

What is the environmental, social, and governance ESG concept? ›

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is a framework used to assess an organization's business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues.

What is ESG environmental, social, and governance commitment explained? ›

So, what is ESG? ESG stands for “environmental, social, and governance,” and is a framework that considers non-financial factors impacting a company's long-term success. ESG criteria include environmental sustainability, social impact, and the quality of a company's governance practices.

What is environmental, social, and governance ESG reporting? ›

ESG reporting is all about disclosing information covering an organization's operations and risks in three areas: environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and corporate governance. Consumers look to ESG reports to figure out if their dollars are supporting a company whose values align with theirs.

What are environmental, social, and governance ESG guidelines? ›

Adopting ESG principles means corporate strategy focuses on environment, social, and governance. This means taking measures to lower pollution, and CO2 output, and reduce waste. It also means having a diverse and inclusive workforce, at the entry level and the board of directors.

What are the 3 pillars of ESG? ›

The three pillars of ESG are:
  • Environmental – this has to do with an organisation's impact on the planet.
  • Social – this has to do with the impact an organisation has on people, including staff and customers and the community.
  • Governance – this has to do with how an organisation is governed. Is it governed transparently?

What is the difference between social and governance in ESG? ›

Social ESG data can include statistics on company diversity, human rights, animal rights, and even information related to labor practices in the company's supply chain. ESG disclosures around governance provide transparency into company leadership and operations.

What is ESG in simple words? ›

ESG means using Environmental, Social and Governance factors to assess the sustainability of companies and countries. These three factors are seen as best embodying the three major challenges facing corporations and wider society, now encompassing climate change, human rights and adherence to laws.

What are the 4 key environmental, social, and governance ESG metrics proposed by the World Economic Forum WEF )? ›

The Measuring Stakeholder Metrics: Disclosures report reveals the World Economic Forum's performance on four pillars of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG): Principles of Governance, People, Planet and Prosperity.

What is an example of ESG governance? ›

Below are some examples of business components that governance controls:
  • Board composition. ...
  • Business integrity. ...
  • Corporate leadership. ...
  • Competitive practices. ...
  • Ethics. ...
  • Incentive structures. ...
  • Political activities. ...
  • Transparency.
Dec 4, 2023

What is environmental, social, and governance? ›

ESG stands for environmental, social and governance and refers to a set of standards used to measure an organization's environmental and social impact. It's typically used in the context of investing, although it also applies to customers, suppliers, employees and the general public.

What are the environmental, social, and governance goals? ›

What are ESG Goals? Environmental, social, and corporate governance are the three pillars of a modern, all-inclusive framework that helps stakeholders understand how organizations manage risks and opportunities related to the three criteria (sometimes called ESG factors).

What are ESG environmental social governance risks? ›

ESG Risks are those arising from Environmental, Social and Governance factors that a company must address and manage. These risks are a combination of threats and opportunities that can have a significant impact on an organisation's reputation and financial performance.

What is ESG in simple terms? ›

What is ESG explained in simple terms? ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It is a framework used to evaluate a company's sustainability and ethical impact.

What is the basic concept of environmental governance? ›

Environmental governance includes policy, rules and norms that govern human behavior and it also addresses who makes decisions, how decisions are made and carried out, the scientific information needed for decision-making and how the public and major stakeholders can participate in the decision-making.

What are the concepts of environmental governance? ›

Environmental governance (EG) consists of a system of laws, norms, rules, policies and practices that dictate how the board members of an environment related regulatory body should manage and oversee the affairs of any environment related regulatory body which is responsible for ensuring sustainability (sustainable ...

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