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ARTICLE · 23 MARCH 2021

ESG And Climate Change

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Given the potential for climate change to drive transformation across entire economic sectors, the fact that it often dominates the environmental, social and governance (ESG)...

CanadaEnvironment
Tyson Dyck
Tyson Dyck
Henry Ren
Henry Ren
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Given the potential for climate change to drive transformation across entire economic sectors, the fact that it often dominates the environmental, social and governance (ESG) conversation is hardly surprising.

Here we examine the important role that climate change has assumed in ESG and discuss the related question—will regulation, incentives, or a combination of both drive future trends in this area?

Climate change as a central pillar of ESG

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, "80% of the world's largest companies are reporting exposure to physical or market transition risks associated with climate change", while "increasing pressure from shareholders and activists has led to divestment from some carbon-intensive industries"1. Physical climate change risks include exposure to increasingly severe or unpredictable weather events, or broader climatic changes. For example, certain companies own or insure assets that may be at greater risk due to

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