ESG investing is also known as impact investing, and since 2004 its function is to shape the future, change the world, and make it a better and safer place to live. While around for some time, it’s a form of investing that is seeing a peak in interest with issues such as the homicide of George Floyd on the radar of social culture in North America today.
ESG investing refers to environmental, social, and governance investing. It’s a way for corporate America to say to the world, we care about this problem. Companies send a statement that they care about social change when they make a social investment, and today they also create benchmarks of integrity for other companies to follow.
ESG investments are well-thought about today as business pours money into sectors like the Black Lives Movement by the billions. For Cisco in 2020 it was 5 million, Nike it was 40 million over 4 years. Bank of America reports the number was 45.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
ESG is a trend that is accelerating now, and not just launching now. It began in 2004 when United Nations Secretary-General Kovi Annan asked 55 CEOs to do something to bridge gaps between the private sector and social change. Today, it’s a cost of doing business that may well be changing the world with every dollar spent.