Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is a large and influential industry. Its activities could be illuminated, appraised and improved by academic research. Unfortunately, research to date has focused on measuring return performance. A wider range of topics is necessary before research can properly inform investors, companies and regulators. This paper contributes to the challenge by systematically exploring the literature to reveal a richer array of topics: the heterogeneous nature of ESG investing, its costs and motivations, and its management literature origins. In addition to these established topics, five emerging themes are identified: the human element, climate change, fund flows, fixed income and the rise of non-Western players.

Progress on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues is vastly different depending where in the world you look. However, the literature on what drives ESG performance is highly fragmented and current theories fail to offer useful insights into the disparity in ESG performance. Hence, this study draws upon an accumulated body of knowledge of ESG-related literature and explores the major drivers of ESG performance. By applying a scientific and replicable methodology of systematic literature review, this article reveals the fundamental debate underpinning ESG responsibility, the breath of pertinent stakeholders, the theories necessary to understand ESG management and the conditions which will best achieve ESG progress. The major themes help inform the most effective choice of mechanisms to improve ESG outcomes. However, there are also significant themes not yet fully developed in the literature. Future research is urgently needed on the impact of economic development, regulatory environment and responsible investing on ESG outcomes. These research trajectories hold important implications for investment management, corporate strategy and government policies affecting global ESG performance.

Urgent issues such as climate change have drawn increasing attention from finance scholars. Most research has situated a corporate response within the context of the environmental, social and governance performance. However, other disciplines express concerns around environmental degradation within broader frameworks, such as the Planetary Boundaries framework. We highlight the different conceptualisations of ESG and planetary boundaries and call for further research that links finance research to the Planetary Boundaries framework. We describe how contributions in the Accounting & Finance Special Issue on Environmental Finance advance research in this area and explore implications for future research that responds to the imperatives of remaining within Planetary Boundaries.

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