The principles of ESG are detrimental to the fiduciary duty for shareholders.
The acronym “ESG”- environmental, social, and governance- has become increasingly prevalent in the investing world in recent years. In general, ESG-focused funds deliberately refrain from making investments in certain companies whose policies or operations conflict with ESG goals, and/or make efforts to invest in companies whose policies and operations advance the relevant ESG goals. For example, an ESG investment fund might rule out making investments in any energy company that develops fossil fuels.
While the term ESG is often used in a vague manner, a topic that unquestionably receives a great deal of attention in the ESG context is the first environmental factor listed in the table above: climate change/carbon emissions. The PRI (Principles for Responsible Investing), an international network of financial companies that seeks to promote ESG investing, states that “Climate change is the highest priority ESG issue facing investors.”
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