ESG Investing Isn’t Designed to Save the Planet
On August 2, 2022 by Ken PuckerBy: Ken Pucker & Andrew King Harvard Business Review Most people assume that ESG Investing is designed to reward companies that are helping the planet. In fact, ESG ratings which underlie ESG fund selection are based on “single materiality” — the impact of the changing world on a company P&L, not the reverse. Asset management […]
Overselling Sustainability Reporting: We’re Confusing Output with Impact
On May 22, 2022 by Ken PuckerHarvard Business Review, May – June 2021 For two decades progressive thinkers have argued that a more sustainable form of capitalism would arise if companies regularly measured and reported on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. But although such reporting has become widespread, and some firms are deriving benefits from it, environmental damage and […]
ESG and Alpha: Sales or Substance?
On February 25, 2022 by Ken PuckerInstitutional Investor By Andrew A. King and Kenneth P. Pucker February 25, 2022 Managers of ESG investments create false hope, exaggerate outperformance, and contribute to the delay of long-past-due regulatory action. In late 2018, while seated on the dais of The New York TimesDealBook Conference, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink declared that“demand for ESG [environmental, social, […]
The Myth of Sustainable Fashion
On January 12, 2022 by Ken PuckerHarvard Business Review by Kenneth P. Pucker January 13, 2022 Few industries tout their sustainability credentials more forcefully than the fashion industry. But the sad truth is that despite high-profile attempts at innovation, it’s failed to reduce its planetary impact in the past 25 years. Most items are still produced using non-biodegradable petroleum-based synthetics and end […]
Heroic Accounting – New proposals for monetizing corporate planetary impacts are alluring, impossible and perilous
On September 20, 2021 by adm1nStanford Social Innovation Review By Andrew A. King & Kenneth P. Pucker Sep. 20, 2021 As concerns mount about social and environmental sustainability, an unlikely planetary hero has emerged: the accountant. A growing collection of investors, academics, and business leaders have proposed that better accounting practices can overthrow what Financier Ronald Cohen calls “the tyranny […]
The Trillion-Dollar Fantasy Linking ESG Investing to Planetary Impact
On September 13, 2021 by Ken PuckerInstitutional Investor On April 8, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observatory in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, reported that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere had reached 419 parts per million, the highest levels recorded in more than 4 million years. That same day, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced another milestone: It […]
The Dangerous Allure of Win Win Strategies
On February 22, 2021 by Ken PuckerStanford Social Innovation Review For the past 30 years, celebrated academics and business leaders have promoted the idea that companies often profit by addressing social and environmental problems. Although these proposals have been hailed as promising breakthroughs, they are unscientific and counterproductive. By Andrew A. King & Kenneth P. Pucker Winter 2021 Read the full […]
Private Equity Makes ESG Promises: Their Impact is Often Superficial
On July 27, 2020 by Ken PuckerInstitutional Investor Alongside Bono, Richard Branson, and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, private equity firm TPG launched the Rise Impact fund in 2016. The offering committed “to deliver positive and sustainable impact” while creating a “top-performing fund.” At the time, Bono remarked that “capitalism is going up on trial, and I think that it’s clear that […]
There Are No Easy Answers to our Biggest Global Problems
On July 27, 2020 by Ken PuckerHarvard Business Review by: Ken Pucker, Andrew King and Auden Schendler Too many academics, commentators and experts have fallen victim to magical thinking regarding our ability to tackle the major societal challenges facing humanity. To wit: many of the signatories to a recent pledge to find societal purpose in business are furloughing employees during the […]
How a Bottle of Salad Dressing Inspired Corporate Social Responsibility
On July 27, 2020 by Ken PuckerThe Guardian Timberland’s former chief operating officer sheds light on the company’s lofty sustainability practices, but argues more needs to be done to develop an industry standard for emissions reporting The first decade of the 21st century was a boom time for corporate sustainability. Iconic US companies, including GE, IBM, Walmart and Google, embraced the […]