The Weaponization of ESG Infrastructures and the Future of Green Finance

Abstract

The trillion-dollar green finance industry faces growing pushbacks from a range of actors. While criticisms vary—from portraying ESG as part of a “woke” agenda to highlighting risks of greenwashing—we now see mass departures from climate–finance initiatives, with asset managers coming under fire from regulators over ESG policies and activist shareholder groups pausing climate resolutions following investor hesitation. Taking stock of the current anti-ESG movement, this paper discusses how actors battle it out over ESG infrastructures that facilitate or hinder ESG investing. ESG infrastructures, such as reporting standards, investment practices, and financial regulation, function as the “plumbing” of financial markets. This paper presents illustrative vignettes drawn from recent empirical cases, such as regulatory interventions attempting to scale back sustainability reporting standards in the European Union and contestations over the boundaries of ESG engagement for shareholders in the United States. While ESG infrastructures can contribute to altering the power dynamics of climate-forcing and climate-vulnerable asset owners, they can also be weaponized by actors seeking to obstruct climate mitigation. Forms of weaponization can be noisy and public or quiet over technical definitions. I contrast the backlash in Europe and the United States, showing how different actors seek to weaponize ESG infrastructures.