Jeroen Derwall recently visited Sweden, partly to lecture at the Sustainable Business conference arranged by the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications and Mistra’s research programme Sustainable Investments.Immediately before the interview, he had stood on the main stage at China Theatre in Stockholm and, just after the Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson, given a lecture to an audience of several hundred people. This context did not seem to have bothered him particularly.
‘No, the more often you appear in public, the less you worry about it,’ says Derwall, who has had a swift scientific career.
Fast track
Five years ago, he embarked on his doctoral thesis at Maastricht University. At an early stage in his work, he received funding in the Sustainable Investments research programme.
He obtained his PhD three years later, and is currently employed as an assistant professor. At the age of just 30, jointly with a few colleagues, he has already started a research centre in which he works as head of research.
‘You have to do something to keep busy. I like being creative — that’s why I do science.’
Lab for sustainable investments
The European Centre for Corporate Engagement (ECCE) started work in 2007. This research centre, which has expanded to include some 10 people, seeks to disseminate knowledge of sustainable investments to companies and investors.
‘Some people call us a lab for sustainable investments. We’re a research organisation, but we also try to convey information to practitioners through workshops and presentations like the one I just gave today.’
The ambition to assess and value companies on the basis of non-financial criteria — above all ethical, environmental and social aspects — has existed in earnest since the early 2000s. Various accounting methods and terms like ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) and ‘socially responsible investing’ (SRI) that came into use then are still current.
In the past few years another term, ‘environmental, social and governance factors’ (ESG) has been used increasingly often in the context of sustainable investments.
Doubtful investors waking up
‘We’re seeing a gradual increase in awareness of these issues in the sector. But the average investor is still doubtful about the new way of thinking. They think that sustainable investments are too soft, that they’re not quantified, and that they’re not connected clearly enough to earnings potential.
