globeinhandsThe global sustainable investment market has grown substantially in both absolute and relative terms, according to The Global Sustainable Investment Review 2014, a report released by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA).

The report reveals that global sustainable investing assets have risen 61%, from $13.3 trillion (€12 trillion) at the outset of 2012 to $21.4 trillion (€19.3 trillion) at the start of 2014. As a result, the assets employing sustainable investing strategies have risen from 21.5% to 30.2% of the professionally management assets across the regions covered.

The Global Sustainable Investment Review 2014 is a collaboration between members of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance and the Japan Social Investment Forum.

This is the second report to collate the results from the market studies by regional sustainable investment forums from Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, Asia (ex Japan) and Japan after the inaugural 2012 review was published in early 2013.

The report found that the most common sustainable investing strategy used globally is negative/exclusionary screening, affecting US$ 14.4 trillion (€13 trillion) in assets. ESG integration, the systematic and explicit inclusion by investment managers of ESG factors into traditional financial analysis, is the second most prominent strategy in asset terms, affecting US$12.9 trillion (€11.6 trillion). Corporate engagement and shareholder actions, the use of shareholder power to influence corporate behaviour, including through communicating with senior management and filing shareholder proposals, is the third most prominent strategy, affecting US$7 trillion (€6.3 trillion).