It was great to be in NYC last week where I was in town for Climate Week and attending client meetings and some of the events taking place. It was also our Summer Party for clients and friends of Cognito.
The backdrop to sustainable finance and ESG investing has never been more interesting and polarized. In the US, there has been a backlash against ESG from states such as Florida and Texas who made the contentious decision to block state fund managers from investing in ESG-focused funds and companies. Furthermore, we are seeing a rise in anti-ESG investment products, some of which have performed well despite a rough year for stocks.
Yet, there are signs of progress with the Inflation Reduction Act passing in August which raise $738 billion and authorize $391 billion in spending on energy and climate change. And just last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new Executive Order to accelerate efforts to make New York state operations more sustainable.
Globally of course much of the West is facing an energy crisis like none other experienced before, and the subsequent knock-on effect on inflation and interest rates is reverting much further.
Communicating during times of market stress takes an experienced hand. Its important that despite issues cropping up related to energy security, and the cost of living, that a focus on sustainability doesn’t slip away from corporate and government agendas.
The theme of Climate Week NYC is “driving climate action, fast”. We hear a lot from the clients we work with on the topic of sustainability and sustainable finance, and the media that are important to them, that attention needs to be on solutions that drive action. This was the focus of our second major piece of research on the communications of sustainable finance and investing, which was published in June.
Our team has become experts in helping companies communicate about climate action through their businesses and the products they bring to market. Through our Sustainability Practice, we work with asset managers, traditional lenders, professional service firms, data companies and exchanges, many of which are at the sharp end of the climate transition.
If you would be interested in speaking to our teams in London, New York, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Singapore or Sydney about the issues central to climate action and how they not just impact you and your buyers but also how you can best communicate about these issues, then please get in touch.
Tom is the CEO of Cognito.