Betty Liu Explains: Environmental Social Governance (ESG) & Growth

Betty Liu Explains: Environmental Social Governance (ESG) & Growth | Money In :60 | GZERO Media

What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental Social Governance. These are factors that investors use to measure the societal and sustainable impact of their investment in a particular company.

Why is ESG investing growing so?

So, increasingly, investors are using ESG factors as one of the more important determinants for why they will invest in a particular company. And the reason why is that companies that focus on ESG may deliver better returns, they may lower risk, and they also may demonstrate that the companies have better or good management principles. Now, a recent report said that the growth of investments in ESG funds could grow by $20 trillion over the next two decades. That would be the equivalent of the S&P index today.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

“If the G-Zero world is winning, one of the things that's also winning is impunity,” says Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Speaking at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, Bremmer highlights the rise of global impunity and the challenges of deterrence in today’s volatile geopolitical climate.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, February 20, 2025.
Matrix Images/Korea Pool

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared before two courts on Thursday. His first stop at the Seoul Central District Court made him the first sitting president — he’s not yet been formally removed from office — to face criminal prosecution.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, General Keith Kellogg, meet in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20, 2025.
Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto

Ahead of the three-year anniversary on Saturday of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump’sUkraine envoy, Keith Kellogg,met in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss bringing the fighting to an end as Washington’s allegiances appear to be shifting toward Moscow.

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa takes the national salute below a statue of former president Nelson Mandela at the Cape Town City Hall, ahead of his State Of The Nation (SONA) address in Cape Town, South Africa February 6, 2025.
REUTERS/Nic Bothma

South Africa’s ruling coalition, made up primarily of the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance, is showing signs of a possible crack in its government of national unity.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to the media, on the day of a Senate Republicans' weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2025.

REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

Those of us who grew up in a Cold War world have long thought of Republicans as the US political party that is most consistently tough on Moscow.

Luisa Vieira

The shocking US pivot to Russia has sent the world through the political looking glass and into the upside-down era of Trumpland. Is the US abandoning its historic allies in NATO, Europe, and Canada in favor of … Russia? The short answer is yes, writes GZERO Publisher Evan Solomon. For now.

The Energy Security Hub @BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Pavilion at the Munich Security Conference held crucial talks last weekend on pressing global issues to the energy transition. Over 2.5 days of controversial and constructive talks in the heart of Munich, it became clear that energy security is not only an economic and geopolitical issue but one that’s also inextricably linked to social progress and democratic values. “There is not just one way forward,” said Dr. Heba Aguib, board member of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt. However, speed, scale, and collaboration across sectors are needed to drive the transition. “The open and collaborative approach that big tech companies are taking can serve as a model for other organizations and countries to use external expertise and resources to drive their energy initiatives, tailored to local needs,” she said. Learn more about the program here.