Best Bets for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ratings
Important: ESG reporting is still in its infancy. There are currently over 100 sustainability-related ratings, rankings and awards. Each of these has its origin in a different set of circumstances and each ranking owner has their own agenda. Specifically measuring ESG performance is challenging, attention to the underlying data is essential, and ESG ratings and metrics should be carefully considered for each application/industry.
Consider this: ESG raters are paid by the investors who use the ratings, not by the companies that are rated. "Rating agencies also show a clear bias favoring developed markets outside of the US." Lastly, researchers have observed considerable limitations when comparing across ESG ratings due to a general lack of transparency about the methodologies employed to produce them.
Five of the prominent ESG rating agencies include: Sustainalytics, Moody's ESG (Vigeo-Eiris), S&P Global (RobecoSAM), Refinitiv (Asset4), and MSCI (KLD). For a helpful comparison of ESG frameworks, visit the ESG navigator.
For a comparison of database coverage of ESG ratings, visit Edward Lim's (UCONN) comparison page.
- KnowESGESG ratings for more than 1,000 companies, collated from three leading ESG data providers (MSCI, Refinitiv & Sustainalytics). Includes sustainability reports and current news.
- Sustainalytics ESG Risk RatingsMeasure of the degree to which a company’s economic value is at risk driven by ESG factors. Includes over 12,000 companies and 138 sub-industries. Offers some industry-level comparisons.
- Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) ESG Corporate RatingsPublic ESG Ratings corporate search tool which includes over 2,900 companies. Most ratings include: Implied Temperature Rise, Decarbonization Targets, ESG Ratings, ESG Controversies, Business Involvement Screens and SDG Net Alignment for companies that are constituents of the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI).
- Nexis Uni (formerly LEXIS/NEXIS Academic) This link opens in a new windowSearch CSRHub and pause to let the fuzzy searching populate. Select "CSRHub ESG Ratings" and then search for a company. CSRHub provides consensus ratings for over 30,000 companies' ESG performance. Ratings are provided on absolute scale 0-100, and include categories; Environment, Community, Employees, and Governance.
- Mergent Online This link opens in a new windowUse the Sustainability tab to find ESG (environmental, social & governance) Rating Reports measuring a company’s exposure to, and management of, ESG issues through charts and tables. Data includes business description, ESG rating, rating history, pillar scores, country and industry averages, and their exposure. Offers some industry-level comparisons.