Advocates of ESG investing, meanwhile, have been feeling burned, raising cries of greenwashing around supposedly environmentally friendly funds that have holdings in such industries as coal or arms manufacturing.

As head of global sustainable finance for Fitch Ratings, Andrew Steel is a key arbitrator of this debate, with views likely to rankle both ESG true believers and haters. Fitch both assesses the financial risk of debt based on ESG-related factors and rates investments on their ESG impact. At the Milken Institute Global Conference this week, Steel explained why energy companies with oil, gas and coal assets can get top scores for ESG credit risk — and why strict ESG investors may be missing out on not just returns but a chance to influence the world for the better.

The post Can coal investing be environmentally friendly? A contrarian take on ESG first appeared on ESG Foundation.

The post Can coal investing be environmentally friendly? A contrarian take on ESG appeared first on ESG Foundation.