A recent ISS ESG report looked at the environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives that companies are most committed to. The hottest environmental topics related to water and earthiodine diversity, The main topics of social interest were gender equality and labor rights. On the other hand, the theme with the least engagement was corruption.
ISS ESG Quarterly Engagement Update for Q4 2022 A total of 195 companies participated across 215 topics. The report highlighted key trends in ESG investing activities of participating investors. ISS ESG, like PLANADVISER, is owned by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.
ESG is in the spotlight as mission-driven investing becomes increasingly politicized. On March 1, the Senate approved a House resolution overturning a Department of Labor rule allowing ESG investments in retirement plans. President Joe Biden has said he will veto the bill. Republicans reject ESG investment rules as a matter of “awakening capitalism.” However, his Q4 2022 update on ISS ESG shows that companies are still interested in sustainable investing.
Companies engaging in ESG investing are spread across the globe, with 43% of companies in Asia, 36% in North America, and 18% in Europe investing in ESG themes.
The areas that attracted the most attention were environmental and social topics. According to ISS ESG, environmental concerns accounted for 51% of engagement, social concerns accounted for 46% of his engagement, while governance topics accounted for just 3%.
The main area of concern reported by companies was gender equality at 19%, followed by labor rights norms at 16%. Water and biodiversity both accounted for 14% of investor engagement, followed by environmental norms at 12% and companies interested in the themes of net zero and human rights norms at 11%. Finally, corruption received only 3% of the vote.
ISS ESG facilitated collaborative efforts on the United Nations’ 14 Sustainable Development Goals. The most common SDG was clean water and sanitation at 16%, followed by gender equality at 14%. The SDGs “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” Life Below Water, and Life on Land each received 12% engagement.