Sustainable Views: Lessons from a whistleblower

If you work in sustainability, you'll already be familiar with Desiree Fixler.If you're new to this area, Desiree is the whistleblower who instigated multiple investigations into the ESG credentials of DWS, the asset manager part of Deutsche Bank. At one point, the German police got involved too. The company’s shares dived; its CEO stepped down. This is arguably the biggest sustainable finance scandal to date.Desiree, who used to be DWS’s global sustainability officer, accused her former employer of greenwashing. In September this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission concluded she was right. It fined the asset manager a whopping $19mn for ESG misstatements - the SEC's largest ever ESG fine.In this new episode of Sustainable Views, Desiree talks to Silvia Pavoni, your host, about how sustainable finance should change to actually be sustainable – and avoid misleading investors. She also shares her views on regulators’ role in this area (she’s not a fan of the EU’s sustainable finance disclosure rules, which she says are a “train wreck”); and calls on companies to build solid ESG expertise internally, rather than outsourcing the work – and the responsibility – to consultants.Desiree also gives advice on how to tackle greenwashing within companies, and how to deal with life as a whistleblower.-Links:Some reading on the EU’s disclosure rules: https://www.sustainableviews.com/csrd-under-attack-as-eu-gears-up-for-elections/About sustainable finance regulation, here: https://www.sustainableviews.com/should-article-9-funds-invest-in-transitioning-companies/And about other ESG reporting proposals, here: https://www.sustainableviews.com/uk-government-seeks-industry-views-on-issb-scope-3-standards/…and here: https://www.sustainableviews.com/european-commission-urged-to-align-eu-reporting-standards-with-issb/Here you can register to receive our daily newsletter: https://www.sustainableviews.com/sv/request-free-trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Confused about sustainability? You’re not alone. Environmental, social and governance factors, or ESG, are increasingly a headache for business, finance and world leaders alike. Now even policymakers are creating rules to govern this space. It’s hard to keep up and make sense of it all. So let us help you by sharing some of the most interesting views shaping this space. Join your host, Silvia Pavoni, as she talks to the people living and breathing sustainability – and a few critics too. (We can’t promise this will be a completely jargon-free space, but we shall try!)Want to talk to us directly? Email sustainable.views@ft.com. Want to find out more about Sustainable Views? Visit www.sustainableviews.comSustainable Views is an intelligence service by the Financial Times Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.