Sustainability, Technology, and Finance: Rethinking How Markets Integrate ESG

350 Pages·2022·9.037 MB·English

by  Herman Bril, Georg Kell, Andreas Rasche

“Bril, Kell, and Rasche have edited a timely, insightful, and deeply thought-
provoking volume on a topic that sits right at the frontier of our current
knowledge: the interrelation of sustainable finance and technology. It fills an
important void by focusing on the real-world implementation of urgently
needed solutions to our most pressing sustainability challenges. This book,
therefore, is an absolutely essential read for companies, executives, and
investors who are genuinely interested in bringing about transformational
ESG change in their organizations and indeed, within society at large.”
Ioannis Ioannou, London Business School
“A great book and blueprint for our transition to a more sustainable future.”
Rose Marcario, former CEO Patagonia
“As the founder Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Georg Kell’s
unique insights have shaped the discourse in responsible business since the
inception of the Global Compact in 2000. In this publication, Georg Kell
and colleagues aptly capture the opportunities in innovative financing,
technologies and accountability frameworks that raise the ambition for the
private sector.”
Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact
“The climate and sustainability challenge is the toughest, and most important,
one modern society needs to address. But what made society modern is the
force of technology. Reconciling the urgency of one with the potential (and
peril) of the other is a critical imperative. This anthology draws together key
voices to help bridge that gap.”
Azeem Azhar, author, Exponential
“Have you been wondering about ESG and how technology might be part of
the solution? Then this might be a worthwhile read for you. My colleagues
across asset management and academia have written the book with
complementing chapters about futuristic views on technology impact, paired
with how asset managers might integrate technology and digitalisation in the
still virgin ESG analytic work. The book also raises important questions about
the ESG implications on reverse globalisation and the impact on geopolitics –
relevance underlined by the recent events in Ukraine.”
Peter Branner, Chief Investment Officer APG Asset Management

Sustainability,
Technology, and Finance
This book explores the swiftly emerging nexus between sustainability, finance,
and technology.
Leading practitioners and academic thought leaders reflect on the ways
in which technology and digitalization shape how sustainable finance
professionals address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.
Together, the contributors identify three spheres in which technology shapes
how investors make sense of such issues:
• ESG and technology: finance professionals need to know about how
technological innovations, such as chemical recycling for plastics, in the
real economy shape firms’ ESG performance;
• ESG through technology: technological developments, such as AI and
blockchain, can enable finance professionals to offer more fine-grained
ESG analyses; and
• ESG as technology: the ESG agenda itself is influenced by technological
developments that are not well understood by practitioners (e.g., data
mining for Bitcoin creating significant emissions).
Using practically relevant examples and recent insights from people working
in the field, the book explores the linkages between sustainability, technology,
and finance in different contexts and shows how practitioners can accelerate
needed change processes.
This book primarily addresses practitioners in companies and investment
firms as well as students enrolled in executive education and MBA programs.
Herman Bril is Managing Director & Head of Responsible Investment at
PSP Investments. He has 30 years of experience in international financial
institutions across investment management, derivatives trading, treasury,
and development finance.
Georg Kell is Chairman of Arabesque, a technology company that uses
AI and big data to assess sustainability performance, and Chairman of the
Volkswagen Sustainability Council. Georg founded the UN Global Compact,
the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. He also oversaw the
launch of the PRI, PRME, and SSE.
Andreas Rasche is Professor of Business in Society at the Centre for
Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and Associate Dean for
the CBS Full-Time MBA program. He has authored more than 60 academic
articles in top international journals and published various cases on topics
related to ESG and corporate sustainability.
Sustainability,
Technology, and
Finance
Rethinking How Markets Integrate ESG
Edited by
Herman Bril,
Georg Kell, and
Andreas Rasche
Cover image: Getty Images/metamorworks
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Herman Bril, Georg Kell, and
Andreas Rasche; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Herman Bril, Georg Kell, and Andreas Rasche to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bril, Herman, 1967– editor. | Kell, Georg, editor. | Rasche,
Andreas, editor.
Title: Sustainability, technology and finance : rethinking how markets
integrate ESG / edited by Herman Bril, Georg Kell, and Andreas Rasche.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development. | Economic development. |
Appropriate technology.
Classification: LCC HC79.E5 S86666 2023 (print) | LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) |
DDC 338.9/27—dc23/eng/20220622
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025894
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025895
ISBN: 978-1-032-20056-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-20054-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-26203-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003262039
Typeset in Minion
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
List of Boxes xv
Notes on Contributors xvii
Foreword xxv
List of Abbreviations xxvii
1 Sustainable Finance and Technology: Making the Connection 1
Herman Bril, Georg Kell, and Andreas Rasche
PART I
ESG and Technology 17
2 History of Technology and Its Future in the Context
of Human Development 19
Lars Jaeger
3 ESG—A Transformational Journey for Asset Management,
Industries, Technology, and Society 47
Asoka Wöhrmann
4 How Can Corporate Leverage Tech and Sustainability
through Collaboration? Digital with Purpose—Current
Practices and Trends 69
Luis Neves
5 Decarbonization as a Chance 91
Herbert Diess
viii CONTENTS
6 Ocean Technology as a Growing Space in Which
to Reimagine Business: The Role of Start-Ups 101
Bjørn K. Haugland and Asgeir J. Sørensen
PART II
ESG as and through Technology 117
7 Mitigating the Risks and Nurturing the Opportunities:
Data and Tech Vital in Tackling Companies’ ESG Challenges 119
Nina Arquint and Andreas Berger
8 Resilience as an Analytical Filter for ESG Data 141
Ashby Monk and Dane Rook
9 Technology-Supported Investment Management 163
Eduard van Gelderen and David Ouellet
10 Finance, Sustainability, and Technology: Co-Evolution
in Asset Owners’ Context 183
Winston Ma
11 A Digital Twin for Finance: Artificial Intelligence
Supporting the Implementation of Environmental, Social,
and Governance Targets 193
Christof Mascher
12 Efficiently Allocating Capital to Transition to a Sustainable
Economy 211
Madelyn Antoncic
13 Assessing ESG from a Position of Wealth 235
Elias Ghanem
14 The Rise of ESG Data: A Tectonic Transparency Shift 251
Inna Amesheva
15 ESGT—Exponential Technology Requires Exponential
Responsibility 273
Andrea Bonime-Blanc and Dante A. Disparte
CONTENTS ix
16 Mastering Sustainability Requires Technology, Finance,
and the Powers of Homo Deus 297
Herman Bril, Georg Kell, and Andreas Rasche
Index 311