A growing number of investors seek to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into financial analysis and decision-making but struggle with combining qualitative or non-financial quantitative ESG data with highly quantitative and financialized investment models. Pioneering investors are currently attempting to resolve this challenge by translating ESG metrics into monetary terms, in the hope that putting everything into the same currency money will be easier for a) integrating ESG into financial decisions and b) communicating this with key stakeholders.

To capture how the monetization of sustainability is organized by financial actors, the research team will follow the Swedish private equity investor Trill Impact as they launch their “trial and error” journey towards developing methods for monetization. In so doing, this research project will provide a deeper understanding of the process, learnings and outcomes of investors seeking to monetize sustainability issues. The study takes place between 2022 and 2024.

Researchers:

• Emma Sjöström (project leader), Sustainable Finance Initiative Co-Director at Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum)
• Hanna Setterberg, Affiliated Researcher at Misum
• Rachelle Belinga, Affiliated Researcher at Misum and Assistant Professor at Drew University