Editorial

Climate change and environmental issues are increasingly in the news, and this month’s WAR includes an article by Professor Russell Picot on a consultative paper that he and two colleagues from Durham University Business School, Professor Carol Adams and Paul Druckman, have recently co-authored to provide guidance to companies on reporting against the UN Sustainability Goals. Professor Picot, who is a Special Advisor to the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, chaired by Michael Bloomberg, outlines the coverage of the paper and explains the importance of this subject for the future of corporate reporting and, indeed, for meeting the UN’s objectives. He discusses current trends in investment behaviour as funds “tilt” towards companies with high environmental, social and corporate governance ratings as a result of mounting evidence that such companies are likely to produce better returns for their shareholders than those with poorer scores.