Chapter 11
Sustainable investing
Introduction
Some of the cases of increasing materiality of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors include the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in which the oil major British Petroleum (BP) recorded a US$53.8 billion pre-tax charge, imposition of €27.4 billion in penalties and fines upon Volkswagen for rigging 11 million diesel vehicles to pass emission tests and the very recent privacy breach of personal data by Facebook in 20181. These are some of the glaring examples where breaches of ESG or sustainable issues have had adverse impacts on the finances of companies. Evidence points to the fact that ignoring sustainability factors can lead to adverse consequences for companies. ...
