Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance Teams with BNY Mellon on ESG Research

The Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance (YISF), a joint program between the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP) and the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY), has announced a new partnership with investment bank BNY Mellon to expand research on various aspects of sustainable investing, including forces shaping sustainable finance, best practices in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, and how corporate sustainability performance affects financial results.

This collaboration will support YISF’s ongoing research agenda that includes exploring the relationship between ESG metrics and financial performance, and investor-grade ESG metrics.

“The Yale Initiative for Sustainable Finance team is excited about the opportunity to work with a global leader like BNY Mellon on our shared agenda of better understanding about how capital flows and the finance sector can contribute to a sustainable future,” says Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law & Policy at Yale and YCELP director.

Launched in 2017, YISF functions as a knowledge hub for Yale faculty, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers working together to further interdisciplinary research on innovation in sustainable finance. The initiative also provides a space for robust conversations on sustainable investing and ESG reporting issues by organizing workshops, conferences, and online interactions through which research findings and policy perspectives can be shared and debated.

“YISF functions as both a research initiative and a lever for greater collaboration between thought leaders in academia and business on the critical barriers to the integration of sustainability concerns into financial markets and capital allocation processes,” says Todd Cort, a faculty member at the Yale School of Management who co-directs YISF with Esty.

In addition to research collaboration, BNY Mellon will also provide financial support for YISF’s annual symposium, which will take place in November 2021 at the Yale School of Management in New Haven. The 2021 symposium will focus on sustainable banking and finance, exploring research from academics and practitioners on a wide range of sustainable investment issues.