Grant Shapps, the UK’s new defence secretary, has said ESG considerations risk undermining the UK defence industry and urged ESG ratings providers to be clearer on their methodology.
In a written ministerial statement on Tuesday (12 September), the secretary said defence companies are being excluded from access to debt and equity capital, citing ESG grounds. "This not only threatens an important part of the economy that, through Ministry of Defence expenditure alone, directly and indirectly supports over 200,000 jobs, but it fails to recognise that the UK's defence industry is essential to protecting our way of life," he said. Shapps said there was "nothing contradictory between the principles within ESG and the defence industry", noting that the UK defence sect...
To continue reading this article...
Join Investment Week for free
Signup and gain exclusive members-only insights - all free of charge!
- Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
- Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
- Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
- Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
- Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes
