After ESG: Is Impact Investment the New Frontier for Responsible Investing?

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded in the US Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 people and spewing more than 130 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The impact on surrounding ecosystems and the lives of those affected is still being felt today. It has been described as the worst environmental disaster in US history. Beyond this human and ecological disaster is a financial calamity that changed the lives of ordinary people across the world. BP’s stock market valuation fell by 55%, or US$100 billion, in the 2 months after the explosion, jeopardizing the savings of thousands who had bet their pensions on BP, which until then had been seen as a jewel of industry, a safe bet.