Swathes of regulation, a slew of net-zero commitments, progress on reporting standards and an unprecedented turn-out at the COP26 climate conference – from any angle, 2021 was a landmark year for the environmental, social and governance (ESG) sector. What comes next? Euromoney asks experts from across the industry about their forecasts for the year ahead.
Net zero
For many, one of the most important developments of the next 12 months will be finding out what pledges by banks, corporates, asset managers and more to reach net zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 actually mean in practice.
“What I really look forward to this year, particularly around energy transition,” says Elree Winnett Seelig, head of ESG for markets and securities services at Citi, "is getting more detail, understanding what the strategies are and what the horizon is, and starting to see that execution."
Peter Reali, managing director of responsible investing at Nuveen, says investors will be watching particularly closely.
“They will want to see companies move beyond goal setting and start to set out details on their KPIs [key performance indicators], what progress they are making towards those, and how they will report on them,” he says.
Whether
