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Sustainalytics
Sustainalytics is a company owned by the American financial firm Morningstar that provides environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data to companies1). It is the provider of ESG data used by “ethical” funds such as Simplicity to determine whether their investments meet their Responsible Investment Policy.
Following significant lobbying from pro-Israel organisations like the ADL, and right-wing US state officials, Sustainalytics amended their policies to address “anti-Israel bias concerns” in their research2). These changes state that:
- Sustainalytics will immediately terminate the use of several sources, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, among others“
- Sustainalytics will use geographic names (e.g., West Bank, East Jerusalem) in relevant regions, rather than terms such as “Occupied Palestinian Territory” or “occupied territory”
- will remove references to the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions campaign
- Sustainalytics will provide additional documented guidance to ensure that its analysts understand that business activity, including but not limited to sectors such as telecommunications, banking, real estate, and construction, within the regions linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or related to Israel’s defense against terrorism, do not give rise to a presumption that there is a human rights concern.
Joe Mansueto, executive chairman of Morningstar, added “Morningstar strongly reinforces the fact that we repudiate the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions campaign”.