Читать книгу ESG Investing For Dummies - Brendan Bradley - Страница 43

The year 2020 marked the start of the “decade of delivery” for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; see Chapter 1 for more information). In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, these words may have more resonance than they did previously for most people, and there is more awareness of the sustainable development issues that impact us all. Indeed, the international community could use the pandemic as a way to get back on track to achieve the SDGs and accelerate progress during this decade to deliver sustainable development. More recently, many countries have carried out Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and companies are reviewing their ESG agendas in tandem.

The science is clear: As greenhouse gas emissions have decreased during the pandemic, there has been a greater focus on the target to continue decreasing emissions by 3.5 percent per year between 2020 and 2030 so that the average temperature on the planet stays well below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Meanwhile, businesses are paying much more attention to the scarcity of resources than climate change or related natural disasters. While both factors directly affect businesses, and one often causes the other, businesses may feel that they can more proactively tackle resource scarcity with core business practices, such as supply chain management, whereas climate change is a factor over which they have less control. With an estimated addition of 2 billion people by 2050, global demand for resources will drive the need for improvements in infrastructure associated with a growing population. Either way, these factors help explain further why companies and investors are keen to embrace ESG principles. Moreover, businesses are responsible for much of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, so they must adapt in order to help address climate change issues.