2020 was a tipping point for investors to think and act more responsibly, galvanized by catalysts like the killing of George Floyd and the pandemic. There is increasing investor support for social and environmental causes. Younger investors are placing increasing emphasis on values and social issues in their investment decisions.
The ‘S’ in the Environment Social and Governance (ESG) agenda is clearly gaining traction, but how far does it extend to civil and political liberties i.e. the right of citizens, NGOs and journalists to speak freely, assemble and associate which are increasingly shrinking around the world?
While there is increasing focus on human rights issues such as modern slavery and supply chains, civil society space issues often fall between the cracks when investors consider ESG.
This webinar also explores opportunities and challenges that arise for the investor community in terms of factoring civic space issues into their political risk and ESG analysis.
- To what extent are civic space issues being factored into ESG social purpose values, especially by younger investors?
- What is the best methodology for assessing these issues in order to ensure a common and coherent set of global standards in this area?
- And how can investors mitigate the risks of their activities to civic space in practice?
Participants
Chair: Harriet Moynihan, Acting Director, International Law Programme, Chatham House
Bennett Freeman, Author, Shared space under pressure: business support for civic freedoms and human rights defenders; Former Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments
Vasuki Shastry, Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme; Former Global Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Standard Chartered Bank
Gillian Tett, Chair of Editorial Board and Editor-at-large, Financial Times, US
Ruben Zandvliet, Group Sustainability, Business & Human Rights Advisor, ABN AMRO Bank
