Financial institutions that flogged ESG as an investing theme during the pandemic years have since moved on to terms like “transition finance”, as ambitious net-zero targets announced just years ago were drowned out by record profits and the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI) products.
The tide is turning on sustainable investing, and Donald Trump’s second term as US president will only hasten that sea change.
Already, the sector has taken on new names to escape scrutiny. Famously, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in June 2023 that he had stopped using the word “ESG” (environmental, social and governance) because it had been “entirely weaponised” by politicians in the US.
