The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant accelerator in the growth of ESG. The market disruptions and uncertainties during the pandemic triggered investors to look for ESG funds for increasing resiliency.
- A report by Bank of America Global Research found that ESG funds saw a record $51.2 billion in inflows in 2020, a more than four-fold increase from the previous year.
- According to data from BlackRock, ESG-themed ETFs saw inflows of $20.6 billion in 2020, an increase of 70% compared to the previous year.
Challenges in Achieving ESG Goals
- Lack of ESG expertise has emerged as one of the main challenges that organizations face today. Creating robust ESG and sustainability strategies and carrying out risk and opportunity assessments requires ESG proficiency and there seems to be a dearth of this skill set.
- The leaders of several companies have also voiced their concerns over the absence of uniform global reporting metrics for ESG compliance and accurate disclosure – another major challenge.
- Moreover, the challenges related to collecting the right data and ensuring the correctness of data, managing data for reliable insights, etc. are slowing down organizations in their processes of embracing ESG principles and integrating impactful ESG strategies in their business.

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Final Thoughts
Author
Anand Subramaniam
Anand Subramaniam is the Chief Solutions Officer, leading Data Analytics & AI service line at KANINI. He is passionate about data science and has championed data analytics practice across start-ups to enterprises in various verticals. As a thought leader, start-up mentor, and data architect, Anand brings over two decades of techno-functional leadership in envisaging, planning, and building high-performance, state-of-the-art technology teams.