Republican state lawmakers are berating U.S. financial institutions for increased reliance on environmental, social and governance metrics to screen investments and analyze credit risk factors, with some of the critics attracting support in Congress.
Utah state Treasurer Marlo Oaks coordinated a response to S&P Global Inc., blasting the financial services firm’s credit rating division for plans to supplement its analysis of states with a score on certain ESG indicators, such as exposure to climate risk and demographic trends.
While S&P notes the ESG analysis is added only after it issues the credit rating, the move nonetheless sparked backlash from the state’s GOP lawmakers, who say the inclusion of those factors stray from traditional financial factors.
