Best Bets for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ratings
Read the current 490-page proposal here: The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.
Important: ESG reporting is still in its infancy. There are currently over 100 sustainability-related ratings, rankings and awards. Each of these has its origin in a different set of circumstances and each ranking owner has their own agenda. Specifically measuring ESG performance is challenging, attention to the underlying data is essential, and ESG ratings and metrics should be carefully considered for each application/industry.
Consider this: ESG raters are paid by the investors who use the ratings, not by the companies that are rated. "Rating agencies also show a clear bias favoring developed markets outside of the US."
Five of the prominent ESG rating agencies include: Sustainalytics, Moody's ESG (Vigeo-Eiris), S&P Global (RobecoSAM), Refinitiv (Asset4), and MSCI (KLD). For a helpful comparison of ESG across business database solutions, visit Edward Lim's comparison chart. For more on the ABC's of ESG Frameworks visit the ESG navigator or investigate the standards tab in this guide.
- MSCI ESG Direct This link opens in a new windowSuite of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research and analysis from MSCI. Includes intangible value assessment (IVA), ESG impact monitor, and related company profiles.
- S&P Corporate Sustainability Index2021 ranking of the 631 sustainability leaders based on ESG metrics.
- KnowESGESG ratings for 1000+ companies, collated from three leading ESG data providers (MSCI, Refinitiv & Sustainalytics).
- Sustainalytics ESG Risk RatingsMeasure of the degree to which a company’s economic value is at risk driven by ESG factors. Includes 12,000 companies and 138 sub-industries.
- Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) ESG Corporate RatingsPublic ESG Ratings corporate search tool which includes over 2,900 companies.
- CSR HubConsensus ratings of ~25,000 companies' ESG performance.