In Focus: When things go wrong  

'ESG claims may come but they will fail'

However, this looks to cause another cycle of greenwashing and complaints soon. The current frameworks and minimum standards will have to go through a couple more rounds of evolution.

As the market matures and becomes more sophisticated, better targets and minimum requirements will become the norm.

Article continues after advert

Like we moved from sustainable development goals, aligned investments with EU taxonomy, a future evolution might involve a more accurate tracking of CO2 emissions and a minimum level of CO2 reduction for an investment to be considered sustainable.

By lagging on action, regulators are making the statement that current market standards constitute the best in class.

When the criteria inevitably improve, market actors will be forced to revert and ask regulators why they did not prepare for the upcoming round of declassifications.

carmen.reichman@ft.com