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Yesterday another big Wall Street institution joined the growing list of companies pushing for board diversity.
New York-based exchange giant Nasdaq Inc. wants to roll out a series of listing requirements that would force companies listed on its U.S. trading venues to begin publicly disclosing diversity statistics about their boards. Listed companies would eventually need at least one director who self-identifies as female and another who identifies as either an underrepresented minority or member of the LGBTQ+ community.
"We believe this listing rule is one step in a broader journey to achieve inclusive representation across corporate America," Nasdaq President and CEO Adena Friedman said in a statement.
This week also brought news that Bank of America Corp. formally committed to stop financing oil and gas exploration in the Arctic — a move that brings it in line with many large bank peers around the world.
"The fact that you see so many global banks coming to the same conclusion — that it's really just not worth it from a financial perspective to fund drilling in the Arctic ... shows how much of a business decision this is, in addition to the real reputational risk to the banks," Liz Levy, portfolio manager at sustainable investment firm Trillium Asset Management LLC, told ESG Insider.
Those reputational risks could be sizable, as ESG investing continued to grow in the U.S. in 2020. Our Chart of the Week shows that U.S. sustainable investments surpassed $17 trillion at the outset of the year. Assets sustainably invested accounted for about a third of the total $51.4 trillion of assets under management in the U.S., according to research from U.S. SIF, or the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.
Chart of the Week
Top Stories
Asian private equity firms placing more emphasis on environmental risk in M&A
Private equity firms looking to conduct deals in Asia are starting to incorporate environmental risks into their decisions, a move that comes as major Asian markets begin to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.
Trudeau's carbon neutrality plan for Canada comes with many 'unknowns'
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to reach a net-zero carbon target by 2050, with the government recently unveiling legislation to that effect. That has raised a flood of questions in the mining sector that still remain unanswered in many cases.
Oil, gas industry looking to digitalization to cut costs, advance ESG goals
Whether it be blockchain technology or 3D printing, the oil and gas industry is looking at a mix of different digital technologies that industry analysts say could help accelerate the ESG movement.
Environmental
Duke Energy CEO supports carbon tax but says devil is in details
Canada's BMO drops US oil, gas investment banking business — Bloomberg
De Beers aims to become carbon neutral, ensure ethical diamonds by 2030
Social
Nasdaq seeking to require board diversity on listed companies
UK launches taskforce to improve socioeconomic diversity in senior roles
2 employees sue Pimco over alleged discrimination, gender bias
Governance
State Street Global Advisors joins Climate Action 100+ investor initiative
Hungary's central bank prepping environmental recommendations for local lenders
Rio Tinto exec admits 'overly transactional' approach in Indigenous dealings
ESG Indices
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Questions or suggestions? Contact S&P Global Market Intelligence's ESG News team at ESGNews@spglobal.com.