Emerging new themes in environmental, social and governance investing: a systematic literature review

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is a large and influential industry. Its activities could be illuminated, appraised and improved by academic research. Unfortunately, research to date has focused on measuring return performance. A wider range of topics is necessary before research can properly inform investors, companies and regulators. This paper contributes to the challenge by systematically exploring the literature to reveal a richer array of topics: the heterogeneous nature of ESG investing, its costs and motivations, and its management literature origins. In addition to these established topics, five emerging themes are identified: the human element, climate change, fund flows, fixed income and the rise of non-Western players.