Sustainable finance

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)

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Definition

Socially responsible investing is an investment discipline that considers environmental, social and governance criteria alongside financial analysis in selecting and managing investments, using strategies from negative screening (excluding weapons, tobacco, fossil fuels), through best-in-class selection and ESG integration, to active ownership and impact investing. Rooted in religious investment traditions and the anti-apartheid divestment campaigns of the 1970s–80s, SRI professionalised into what is now called sustainable or responsible investment, coordinated globally by the Principles for Responsible Investment (2006).

References

Source organisationSupporting reference

This reference provides supporting context for how “Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)” is defined and used.

www.unpri.orgBulk import source

Source imported for editorial provenance.

Overview

How it is used

The concept structures retail ethical funds, institutional responsible investment policies, PRI reporting, and the historical analysis of sustainable finance.

Why it matters

SRI is the ancestor of every ESG product on the market — the movement that first made capital allocation an ethical act.