Decarbon Daily - Issue for August 6, 2021

Yesterday's issue covered a few interesting links on ESG and the Rice Alliance event that is in-person at Rice University in September. The event brings together venture capital, corporate venture groups, private equity, and startups across the Energy industry.

Energy investing is booming right now, especially anything related to ESG investing. Environment, Social, and Governance - ESG - is getting attention in the public and private markets. Investment advisors and funds are offering ESG investments but not stating clearly how the investments directly impact ESG metrics and data. Transparency is critical.

The SEC has even put out alerts and public statements regarding the role of ESG at the Commission:

Our examiners are not—and will not be in this space—merit regulators

Technology and data can bring transparency to an investor's and company's environmental, social, and governance practices. The opportunity to create a common, standard score that describes and rates the scores across companies will be difficult, if not impossible. Refinitive, State Street, and others are certainly doing it today but there is not yet a common accepted practice.

However, does the scoring or data bring merit to the company or investor? Will partners at private equity firm turn away from attractive investments due to low ESG scores? I suppose only time will tell.