1900’s

Religious Groups – Methodists first, then followed by the Quakers, began investing in the stock market in the US and UK and provided socially responsible guidelines. They avoid companies who manufacture or trade in alcohol, gambling & weapons. In the UK, Charles Jacob, the investment manager for the Methodist Church, proposed the first ethical fund in 1973.

1950’s - 60’s

The US-based United Mine Workers fund invest in healthcare and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in social housing.

1960’s

80’s Anti-apartheid investing develops, in 1962 the UN establish the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. Disinvestment from South Africa gains critical mass in the 1980’s as result of televised coverage of riots and suppression. Students demand their universities disinvest.

1983

EIRIS is founded in the UK, providing the first independent research into ethical funds for investors.

1992

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known as the Earth Summit, is held in Rio de Janeiro. 179 nations are represented – leading to the Rio Declaration and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

1997

The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by 192 countries, operationalising the UN Framework convention.

1997

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is formed to help establish global standards for Business and Governments to report their impact on climate change, human rights and corruption.

1998

The UK launch the world’s first Corporate Governance Code, initiated by the Cadbury Report (1992), itself a product of the Polly Peck Scandal and then built on by the Greenbury Report (1995) – with both sets of recommendations consolidated into the UK Corporate Governance Code and enshrined into UK company law.

2000

The United Nations Global Compact is a corporate responsibility initiative launched by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

2000

Amendments to the 1995 UK Pension Act comes into force. Regulation 9A requests a Statement of Investment Principles, to include the extent to which social, environmental or ethical considerations are taken into account in the selection, retention and realisation of investments.

2004

In January Kofi Annan writes to 55 CEOs of the world’s leading financial institutions asking them to join the Global Compact initiative and to deliver guidelines for better integration of ESG into asset management.

2004

The “Who Cares Wins” Report is the output from the UN invitation and the first documented use of ESG - “Recommendations by the financial industry to better integrate environmental, social and governance issues in analysis, asset management and securities brokerage.”

2005

The Freshfield Report builds on ‘Who Cares Wins’ establishing a legal framework for the integration of ESG issues into Institutional Investment.

2006

The United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing are launched at the New York Stock Exchange. The PRI is created alongside the principles to put them into practice. There are six principles, centred on the application of ESG and better alignment of investors with the broader objectives of society.

2007

The first 82 companies become Certified B Corporations. It now stands at 4,088 globally, spanning 77 countries and 153 industries.

2011

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is founded by Jean Rogers to develop standards for corporate filings to the US Security and Exchange Commission. Providing investors with comparable, non-financial information that allow them to evaluate ESG performance within 77 different industries.

2013/14

The first studies appear that demonstrate good corporate sustainability leads to better returns.

2015

The Paris Agreement is negotiated by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference, open for signature on Earth Day 2016 and comes into force on 4 November 2016. Its most high-profile aim is to limit global warming to less than 2°C above the pre-industrial average and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

2015

The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures is established by the Financial Stability Board under the chair, Mark Carney. Its aim is to help identify the information needed by investors, lenders and insurance underwriters to assess climate-related risks and opportunities.

2016

The Workforce Disclosure Initiative is launched by Share Action to improve corporate transparency and accountability. It’s now supported by 53 financial institutions with $7.5 trillion of assets under management.

2018

The European Commission’s adopts an Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. The action plan sets out a comprehensive strategy to further connect finance with sustainability; reorientating capital flows to a sustainable economy, making sustainability mainstream within risk management and fostering transparency and long termism.

2020

To coincide with its 50th Anniversary, the World Economic Forum launches a new Davos Manifesto, stating that the purpose of a company is to engage all its stakeholders in shared and sustained value creation.