Summary
The multibillion-dollar investment firm whose Sustainalytics ESG ratings became, in Kenney-Shawa’s brief, the 2022 front on which anti-boycott pressure extended into sustainable investing (lines 183-187).
Details
- In September 2022 South Carolina’s treasurer joined a growing list of officials threatening to cut ties with Morningstar over claims that its Sustainalytics program’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating is biased against Israel; Sustainalytics had drawn attention to Israel’s documented human rights violations in assessments provided to investors (line 183).
- Morningstar hired an independent review commission, which found “neither pervasive nor systemic bias against Israel in Sustainalytics products and services;” (line 185). Its chief executive, Kunal Kapoor, repeatedly insisted the company does not support the BDS movement and that the assessment merely warned investors rather than calling for a boycott (line 185).
- The brief says Morningstar then caved to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby, adopting a host of anti-Palestinian measures that include refraining from both references to the West Bank as occupied as well as reliance on reports issued by the UN Human Rights Council (line 187).
Related pages
Challenging Anti-Boycott Legislation in the US, Anti-boycott legislation, West Bank