Hanneke Smits

"So I'd say we've seen about 700 billion flowing into sustainable funds, but only 30 billion of that with a dedicated climate focus. So we're not quite yet where we need to be to actually solve the climate problem."

"Now, it could be that governments may need to support some of their choices or directives with some investment, either by providing incentives or by providing investment directly into what is needed to plug the gap. The sort of different ways of doing this right, whether you create incentives or raise taxes on carbon pricing, there's sort of different ways that governments can actually influence how capital is being allocated."

"But ultimately, the climate change battle is a battle that is looming large societal upheaval as well. And I think business has a really big chance and opportunity to change behaviors and culture, and I think the investment industry will play a very big part in that."

"It's been a boom for climate change, right, which I think has been one of the drivers behind the increased interest that we've seen both in the market as well as in BNY Mellon Investment Management in ESG."

"We create our own ESG rating. So a company will receive a score based on their policies around environmental, social and governance factors. So governance is often around compensation and pay and how they treat their employees."

"There are certain things that we like to see companies do. For example, on diversity, we would like to see boards and executive teams that are at least one third diverse. If that is not the case, then it doesn't mean that we would vote against, say, the appointment of a new director on a company's board. However, before we do so, we would first engage with the company to have a conversation with the management team to better understand the reasons behind that particular appointment."