HSBC's suspended banker taken to task by key architect of ESG

As the ESG industry digests the outburst from a senior banker at HSBC Holdings Plc, an early proponent of the environmental, social and governance movement is taking the opportunity to set the record straight.

Paul Clements-Hunt, the man who helped coin the acronym ESG in the mid-2000s, has characterized the comments by HSBC’s now-suspended Stuart Kirk as being out of touch with science.

“He represents yesterday’s bank executive,” Clements-Hunt said in an interview. “Ninety-five percent of the world’s scientists agree that climate is a huge risk.”

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