Is Responsible Investing Here to Stay?

Howard Pearce, Head of Environmental Finance and Pension Fund Management at The Environment Agency, talks about the impact of the financial crisis on responsible investing and how institutional investors can pool together to be responsible investors. Looking ahead, he offers his stance on whether we are likely to see environmental, social and governance factors being included in financial analysis routinely in the future. Next he looks at why is it important for investment firms to communicate their ESG initiatives to stakeholders and explains how the Environment Agency is going about this. Finally, he discusses whether companies issuing shares should bear the cost of making it easier for shareholders to be responsible investors, considering the significant logistical obstacles to voting as a cross-border shareholder.