A stronger focus on sustainability (environmental and social) is linked to stronger financial performance - especially at the level of individual companies. The evidence is less clear that investment products marketed as ESG-aligned outperform broader market benchmarks. At least three things help explain this inconsistency.

Flows data suggest ESG assets are stickier | US Strategic Petroleum Reserve's replenishment plan: a boon to the oil industry | The fashion industry's giant water habit | Slowing VC activity in alternative proteins

The key to EVs: sourcing key metals directly can help with traceability | The tradeoffs of divest vs. invest | Shell's partnership with ABB: 2.5 million chargers by 2030 | Tesla's plan to source EV metals directly from mines...and it's now more profitable than GM or Ford | Google's Earth Day images of Greenland over time

What metrics can companies use to measure the experience of women in the workplace more consistently? We take stock of the current state of measurement by evaluating the current parties involved in reporting, and then present a suite of metrics, drawn from Wharton’s Four for Women initiative, that companies can use to collect and report.

...and be cut by 45% by 2030 to stay sub-1.5 degrees | IPCC Working Group II: Distinctions between 'E' and 'S' can be a false dichotomy | IPCC Working Group III: "It's now or never" | Greenwashing continues? HBR article reviews work from University of Chicago, which finds high-ESG-rated mutual funds don't outperform, and an unrelated survey finds companies in ESG portfolio have worse labor and environment compliance records | Asian debt is exposed to ESG risks

ESG factors can help explain 1 in 4 potential bond downgrades says a recent study by S&P | Positive ESG ratings do not mean carbon free | Morgan Stanley study shows that bonds with rigorous sustainability targets tend to have superior price performance a month after an offering | Green real easts starts to see a "green premium"

...is how much we have to remove to hit 1.5 degrees | The US Department of Energy repositions the department of Fossil Energy as Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and invests in R&D for carbon capture and storage | The Ford Mustang E triples production capacity | Livewire's SPAC: Harley Davidson will own 74% of the company | EVs are for rich people, who produce 50% of global carbon emissions

Generation finds that solutions for 50% of emissions getting 10% of the capital | Stanford's Research Initiative on Long-Term Investing uses AI to help capital allocators better understand ESG metrics in financial risk terms | 15% of green bond issuers are “controversial” - including Saudi Aramco and Qatar Energy | Test scores among 13-year olds decline for the first time in 50 years.

The U.S. Department of Defense publishes (a lot) ahead of COP | Morgan Stanley's report on the lack of diversity of investors driving diversity | Penn State/ROKK's survey finds Americans across the political spectrum support companies making a positive impact | DeFi's strong growth, and strong ESG credentials

Tariq Fancy - formerly of BlackRock - writes an essay | Desiree Fixler blows the whistle at DWS, and the SEC investigates | Aswath Damodaran suggests ESG creates more harm than good | Morningstar's paper on the forward-looking potential value of ESG | Regulations continues to gain momentum

...in ESG ratings, anyway | Impact Delta co-authors a white paper with Dream on the launch of its impact funds | HBS's report on quality over quantity of ESG data: the more data is provided, the more ESG scores tend to diverge | SFDR's first phase trims the size of assets under management claiming to be sustainable | Green bond issuance will top $1tn in 2021

This paper is the product of a collaboration between Dream and Impact Delta. Dream is one of Canada’s leading real estate companies, whose purpose is to deliver strong returns while delivering positive impact in the communities where it works. We advised Dream on the launch of its impact investing strategy, which is outlined here.