Some market pundits see a correlation between the rise of the ESG-focused C-suite and the lack of leadership from government, and lack of faith in politicians from the public. Whittaker doesn't see the situation in these either-or terms.
"If you are interested in big companies reducing emissions, those that have the opportunity to reduce emissions the most are the biggest emitters," Whittaker said. The companies that tend to outperform on ESG, led by tech, can afford to have departments and staff whose job is sustainability. "A smaller company may have one person," said Levy, who manages funds for Trillium which also invest in small-cap companies.
"Are they perfect? No, but they do have a lot to offer. These mega-cap techs stocks really help set the market for renewables and helped bring solar costs down buying power purchase agreements at scale. It's a net benefit the mega-cap techs provided now paving the way for small companies," Levy said.
This doesn't capture how well Facebook does on many ESG metrics — No. 2 in the tech industry on worker data ; No. 1 among tech companies in the environment, having already achieved net-zero emissions within its own operations and on its way to being water positive; and No.
Trillium had tried the shareholder advocacy route when it did own Facebook, and had filed some resolutions, but a part of the reason it chose to exit the stock is because of CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg's controlling shareholder stake. "Engaging is what we do," Levy said. "We try to help them become better companies, but it got to the point where we realized the controlling shareholder had no interest in making any improvements," she said.
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