PRI, UNEP FI and The Generation Foundation have issued A legal framework for considering sustainability impact in investor decision making.
For this purposes, the authors firstly commissioned ground-breaking legal analysis, authored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to determine the extent to which legal frameworks enable investors to consider impact in their activities across 11 jurisdictions: the EU, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, the Netherlands, UK and the US.
The report found that while there are differences across jurisdictions and investor groups, where investing for sustainability impact approaches can be effective in achieving an investor’s financial goals, the investor will likely be required to consider using them and act accordingly.
The report also provides an extensive suite of options for policymakers wishing to facilitate investing for sustainability impact, including changing investors’ legal duties and discretions, such as allowing the pursuit of sustainability goals as long as financial return goals are prioritised, and a presumption in favour of investor collaboration in tackling sustainability challenges.
Options for reform presented in the report will now form the basis of a multi-year work programme from PRI, UNEP FI, and The Generation Foundation that will include policymaker engagement and supporting investors via workshops and tools to advance their practice initially in five of the markets studied: the EU, Australia, Canada, Japan and the UK.
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