BlackRock has called for a set of global ESG standards to replace the various ESG standards and terminology currently used by the investment community.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the asset manager has warned that the current “proliferation of disclosure initiatives, many of which are overlapping, has led to duplicative efforts by reporters and a lack of consistent and comparable data. We believe that this could be resolved by aligning and converging to establish a globally recognised sustainability reporting framework and set of standards.”

Blackrock is hardly the first to call for greater standardisation and is there are already several potential standards that could be adopted (see BSI story below). But despite the clamour from various sources for such standards, it is unlikely that there will be agreement soon with competing concepts of what defines ESG, international divisions, and potential issues of how such rules could favour some approaches over, arguably better, approaches from different managers, organisations and accountancy companies.

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