Young Fundpicker: Why ESG is shooting itself in the foot

The perils of AI

clock • 4 min read

Consider ESG, sustainability, and AI. They are not just the buzzwords of the investment industry today, but part of an intricate, paradox-laden debate that invites us to reflect on what it means to invest sustainably.

In June, Elon Musk threw a proverbial spanner into the works, declaring ‘ESG is the devil'. He was responding to a tweet from The Washington Free Beacon captioned ‘From S&P Global to the London Stock Exchange, tobacco companies are crushing Tesla in the ESG ratings…". Musk highlighted a report which showed Tesla receiving a dismal 37 out of 100 in S&P Global's latest ESG rankings, while the tobacco giant BAT boasted a surprising 88. S&P Global ESG score, 2023 It is a situation that verges on the absurd and makes a laughing stock of ESG ratings. Few would conclude that a company w...

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