Innovations in Sustainable Finance

Innovations in Sustainable Finance #3 Jan Anton van Zanten | An Open Source Approach to the SDGs

Apr 18, 2023

Jan Anton van Zanten, sustainable investing expert at Robeco, discusses the open-source SDG scores that measure companies' sustainability performance. They explore the importance of understanding company impacts, making data open source, and the benefits of an open-source data set. They also address the differentiation between human and machine-based scores and the significance of active ownership in sustainable finance.

46:06

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Episode guests

Jan Anton van Zanten

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Quick takeaways

Robeco developed an open-source SDG framework to evaluate companies' impacts on social and environmental sustainability.

There is a lack of correlation between SDG scores and ESG ratings, highlighting the need for testing sustainability ratings against various perspectives.

Deep dives

Creating SDG Scores for Companies

The speaker discusses the development of SDG scores for companies. The speaker explains that they wanted to invest in companies that provide positive social or environmental contributions, and the SDGs provided a good blueprint for sustainable investors. They developed an SDG framework that analyzes companies' impacts on the SDGs in three steps: analyzing impacts of products and services, evaluating companies' operational performance, and considering controversies. The speaker also mentions that the SDG scores range from -3 to +3, with negative scores indicating negative impacts.

Introduction

3min

Measuring Companies' Impact on Sustainable Development Goals

11min

Exploring the Importance of Impact Materiality in Sustainable Finance

3min

The Role of Industry in the Sustainable Development Goals

17min

Making Sustainability Scores Open Source

7min

Two Tiers of SDG Scores and the Importance of Differentiating Between Human and Machine-Based Scores

3min

Importance of Active Ownership and Forward-Looking Metrics in Sustainable Finance

3min

In this episode, I talk to Jan Anton van Zanten, a sustainable investing expert at Robeco. We discuss Robeco's open-source SDG scores, a unique approach to measuring companies' sustainability performance. We also delve into the importance of understanding the impact of companies on society and the environment, and how engaging with companies can drive positive change. Finally, we touch on Robeco's decision to make their data open source and how academics and others can benefit from that.

Link to Anton’s paper

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