Top 25 ESG & Sustainability Experts 2024

Citywealth is pleased to present its Top 25 ESG & Sustainability Experts list, the first of its kind, for 2024. This list has been independently research and curated by the Citywealth editorial team. Please note that any marketing of this content is not permitted at any time without a marketing license, as per our Terms & Conditions. This includes advertisement of inclusion in this list. To purchase a marketing license, please contact Marisa Barton.

ESG rose in prominence over the Covid period but in reality had already spent years developing with new types of technology to help the world with clean energy. Wind, solar and hydro energy are among the successes. ESG, however, has had its troubles with a lack of financial performance, and with high-profile publicity revealing broken wind turbines: the sector has its fans and detractors. Some investment managers are pushing back on it, but others are taking the long-term view. The world has to clean up, and shareholder activism is rife. The next gen doesn’t want the same choices as their parents, so the change may not be immediate, but it will come. Other managers are screening out oil and defence is seen as unaligned with ESG principles but screening out brings the problem of lack of performance – there aren’t enough investments in new types of energy to absorb all the money waiting to go in.

Uncertainty and aggression across the world is also highlighting the lack of funding in defence as the possibility of war spreads to neighbouring countries. How do you invest in defence companies who manufacture weapons? But how do you ignore them if you are, for instance, Ukraine protecting your citizens from death? Prince Michael of Liechtenstein recently spoke at the Citywealth Forum. He said ESG is making a mistake not to include defence; it is a basic right of citizens to be protected. Perhaps targeted weapons could be supported for less collateral damage?

Whatever the answers are, they are not simple and require constant thought and readjustment to the world at large. A few years ago, would we have imagined a world shut down with Covid or the current situation in Gaza? Whatever your views on climate change and ESG investing, there is a wide grey area to consider and, thankfully, a wide array of experts to guide the discussion. With that, we introduce our selection of considered experts to help move the needle forward, and to get your thinking out of the weeds.