Despite the US shift, Luxembourg’s finance stays on track for sustainability

Ecology is losing momentum. With symbolic announcements such as the return of plastic straws, Donald Trump's policies are reshuffling the deck and making the fight against global warming his primary target. As a result, sectors such as tech and finance have followed suit and are making announcements in line with the new policy advocated by the White House. For example, BlackRock, the American global asset management giant, recently changed its policy on sustainable finance, to the surprise of many observers. Michael Halling, professor of finance and holder of the chair in sustainable finance at the University of Luxembourg, expresses his astonishment at this about-turn: "The United States has taken a very different direction from Europe, and I was particularly surprised that the big heavyweights in the sector like BlackRock changed their policy. They were very quick not to expose themselves to Trump's new policy, but I was still surprised that they didn't stick to their rather pro-ESG stance (ESG stands for Environmental, social, and governance and is shorthand for an investing principle that prioritises environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance, ed.). It doesn't really make sense to go backwards."

Adrien Dumas, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Mandarine Gestion in France, is not so surprised. "Pension funds had already questioned the ESG policy, which represented too many constraints for them. This change of direction is simply the result of the deregulation policy announced by Donald Trump, who now has a free hand to implement his policy without any opposition. This change of course comes at a time when the United States, under Donald Trump, seems to be favouring a "business first" approach, calling into question the progress made in terms of diversity and sustainability. Adrien Dumas notes that "all the corporates have jumped on Trump's bandwagon, and now it's business first. Everything that has been done up until now is being called into question."