When a failed US presidential candidate makes an environmental disaster movie, cynics may suggest it is an attempt to revive a flagging career by showing he is in touch with the zeitgeist. When investment banks show an interest in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), those same cynics will argue that there must be money to be made.
The banks are clearly interested. Many have signed up to the Equator Principles that embed sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) criteria in project finance, and nearly all of them are bringing SRI into their mainstream research process. Energy bankers are increasingly focused on alternative energy and fuel, and commodity traders talk about carbon emissions almost as much as they do about copper or oil.
