Preventing reputational damage from greenwashing is a vitally important consideration for the future of sustainable investment in a COVID-19 world.
That’s according to Mark Oliphant, Head of Communications at The International Stock Exchange Group, who took part in a webinar as part of the virtual Guernsey Sustainable Finance Week. Mark has been involved in the establishment of the Exchange’s green market segment, TISE GREEN, and also sits on the Guernsey Green Finance Group.
He has recently written on how COVID-19 and its impacts have precipitated greater investment into social investments, including COVID bonds, which itself is leading to a re-evaluation of the wider sustainable investment landscape, including the rise of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, the development of standards and the dangers of greenwashing (and its derivatives, such as social washing and impact washing).
This webinar session covered:
- Defining greenwashing
- What it looks like in financial services (compared to other sectors)
- Shades of green
- The development of measurement and standards
- The wider sustainability agenda: social, impact and ESG
- The impact of COVID-19
- Reputation, purpose, transparency and trust