Course 6510 lessons

ESG and sustainable investing

A balanced look at investing with environmental, social, and governance factors in mind, including the real debates over ratings, greenwashing, and whether ESG actually affects returns.

What ESG actually stands for and means

ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance, three broad categories of non-financial factors investors can look at alongside a company's usual numbers. Environmental covers things like carbon emissions, energy use, and waste. Social covers how a company treats employees, customers, and the communities it operates in. Governance covers how the company itself is run, its board structure, executive pay, and shareholder rights.