ESG vs System-Level Investing

Professor Caroline Flammer (Columbia University and ECGI) presented the twenty-second lecture in the  Indiana University - ECGI Online Series. In this talk, “ESG vs System-level Investing”, Caroline Flammer discussed the current trends and insights of ESG investing and highlighted the need to move beyond existing theories and practices towards a systems-focused approach.

Caroline Flammer is the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Columbia University with joint appointments at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)and the Climate School, and a secondary appointment at Columbia Business School. She is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a research Member at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). Caroline is an expert in sustainable investing and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. Her research examines whether and how sustainable finance and impact investing can help finance a more sustainable world. Moreover, her research examines how and under which conditions, firms can incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG)considerations into their activities to enhance their competitiveness while strengthening—instead of undermining—the very system in which they operate and hereby play a critical role in addressing climate change, inequality, global health, and other grand challenges related to society and the natural environment.

The public lecture series is organised by Institute for Corporate Governance (ICG) in partnership with the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University and ECGI.