Is ESG another Washington Consensus?

The transition towards greener economy has always been associated with environmental, social and governance (ESG). The trend has gained further momentum as the investing community have shown their commitment to invest based on the ESG principle. In particular, the institutional investors have increasingly pledged their allegiance to this new way of doing business. As of 30 September 2023, there are 5,337 signatories of Principle for Responsible Investment (PRI) of which 734 are asset owners with total assets worth USD121.3 trillion. Most are located in the United States (US); United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland; France; and Germany and Austria with total signatories of 1,064, 846, 408 and 337.

Meanwhile, the number of signatories in China, Japan and Rest of Asia stands at 139, 125 and 266 respectively. In that sense, the ESG principles have been well embedded among the western countries.