Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Margarita Pirovska
PRI’s policy year in review - and what to look out for in 2026
By Margarita Pirovska, Director of Global Policy, PRI Throughout the many new year commentaries on sustainable finance, we hear a common note – that the transition to net zero, sustainable economies holds the line, despite shifting geopolitics. From a policy perspective, this is very much what we witnessed in a turbulent, colourful 2025, that saw evidence of progress at the global level – and we expect this trend to continue into the new year.
Our policy progress in 2023 and outlook for 2024
By Margarita Pirovska, Director of Global Policy, PRI 2023 marks ten years since the PRI first started working on sustainable finance policy. And what a year it was. With a record 60+ consultations, statements and letters on sustainable finance policy reforms, our team has continued to champion the role of sustainability in financial regulations across key capital markets, clarify how investors can pursue sustainability outcomes and scale up climate policy reforms.
Sustainability information is crucial for valuing companies - and high-quality data is key
Standard-setters, policy makers and regulators have made significant strides this year towards standardised sustainability disclosures by companies, launching several major consultations. The value of corporate sustainability information is clearly becoming more widely understood. Sustainability issues can affect the financial performance of a business and hence its value over the short, medium and long term.
Why Policy Matters
Margarita Pirovska, Director of Policy, Principles for Responsible Investment, and Will Martindale, Co-Head of Sustainability, Cardano, highlight priorities for investors as policy engagement becomes a key part of the day job. As PRI in Person closes today in Barcelona, gathering more than 1,700 investors and stakeholders in person for the first time since 2019, one key message throughout has been that policy matters, now more than ever.
COP27: An opportunity for sustainable finance policy reform
Today, every country in the world has adopted the goals of the Paris Agreement. However, global GHG emissions have been on the rise since the Agreement was reached in 2015. Climate scientists around the world have repeatedly issued stark warnings, calling for this upward trend to be urgently reversed. Change should be in one direction only: toward a faster, more ambitious and just transition to net zero.
Partisanship and climate-exposed property purchases - a threat to investment in mitigation and adaption?
By Asaf Bernstein, Stephen B. Billings and Ryan Lewis, University of Colorado; and Matthew Gustafson, Penn State University ACADEMIC BLOG There is a growing body of research in finance and economics examining how markets are reacting to the risks posed by climate change. In our paper, we ask whether growing partisanship surrounding climate change translates into housing choice.
A new social contract: Ensuring decent work in the low-carbon economy
The case has been made for the transition to a low-carbon economy – the question is no longer ‘why’ but ‘how’. With policy momentum and a growing number of net-zero pledges, the just transition – greening the economy in a fair and inclusive way – is firmly on the investor agenda and will help us to meet the Paris Agreement Investors are also considering the social aspect of this transition.
What the war in Ukraine means for climate policy
By Ed Baker, Head of Climate Policy, and Margarita Pirovska, Director of Policy, PRI The past two weeks have seen the unfolding of a crisis that has affected global markets and international relations in an unprecedented way. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, unthinkable until it became a reality, has drawn a massive response by governments and companies around the world. First and foremost, it is a human catastrophe.
Asset Owner Alliance accelerates pace of change in net-zero targets
Last January, the UN-Convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance released the first-ever detailed Protocol for investors in establishing short-term, net zero targets. The 2021 Inaugural Protocol set out i) a quantifiable range based on no/low overshoot pathways for asset classes (or a ‘sub-portfolio target’) ii) sector targets on seven hard-to-abate sectors, iii) engagement targets with corporates and asset managers and iv) financing transition objectives.
Do US companies outsource their carbon footprints to overseas suppliers to maintain competitiveness?
By Rui Dai, Wharton Research Data Services; Rui Duan, Vienna University of Economics and Business; Hao Liang, Singapore Management University and Lilian Ng, York University. Climate change is driving new political and economic realities for countries and businesses worldwide. Many large US corporations are integrating climate change into their business strategies in response to pressures from regulatory authorities, environmental activists, and climate-conscious investors and consumers.
Sustainable finance policy reform: building momentum in 2022
As the world adapted to the continuing COVID crisis during 2021, policymakers’ focus on sustainable finance and business gained further momentum A shared awareness of the climate crisis, enduring and visible social risks, and increasingly prominent global governance issues such as tax evasion, maintained the spotlight on the role of finance in promoting sustainable economic development.
Missing link: the role of stewardship in EU policy
By Margarita Pirovska, Director of Policy, and Paul Chandler, Director of Stewardship, the PRI As the world grapples with the increasingly unpredictable effects of climate change and ecosystem collapse, swift action is required at all levels to put in place a sustainable blueprint for the future. Since its inception in 2018, the EU’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan (SFAP) put Europe on the map as a global leader in sustainable finance.
The California Responsible Investment Roadmap
The California Responsible Investment Roadmap is the result of a collaboration between the PRI and the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE). It draws on interviews with stakeholders and experts in California, including state policymakers and financial regulators, fiduciaries, and asset owners (representing both the public and private sectors) who already integrate ESG factors into their decision-making.
ESG and alpha: ESG integration in China
Clean and dirty air over a big city The integration of ESG issues into investment practice and decision making is an increasingly standard part of the regulatory and legal requirements for institutional investors around the world. In China, two key drivers have recently prompted interest in responsible investment: a government effort to promote green finance, and the increasing globalisation of China’s investment market.
Can gender-diverse boards reduce bank misconduct?
By Francesca Arnaboldi, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, Barbara Casu Lukac, CASS Business School, Angela Gallo, CASS Business School, Elena Kalotychou, Cyprus University of Technology and Anna Sarkisyan, Essex Business School, University of Essex ACADEMIC BLOG Can gender-diverse boards play a role in preventing costly bank misconduct episodes?
Investors turning up the heat on Asia’s palm oil buyers
By Lise Pretorius, Vice President, Asia Sustainable Finance, WWF and Tom Barron, Manager, Stewardship, PRI The cost of growing appetites Amidst Asia’s rising urbanisation and growing middle class, the region’s growing demand for personal care products, processed foods, and dining out is putting unprecedented pressure on palm oil production.
Exporting pollution: Where do multinational firms release Co2?
By Itzhak Ben-David: Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, and NBER, Yeejin Jang: School of Banking and Finance, University of New South Wales, Stefanie Kleimeier: School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Faculty of Management, Open Universiteit, and University of Stellenbosch Business School, and Michael Viehs: Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, and Hermes Investment Management ACADEMIC BLOG Executive summary We provide new...
ESG and alpha: the mainstream argument for ESG integration in China
By Margarita Pirovska (@MargaritaIP), Head of Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century, PRI The integration of ESG issues into investment practice and decision making is an increasingly standard part of the regulatory and legal requirements for institutional investors around the world. In China, two key drivers have recently prompted interest in responsible investment: a government effort to promote green finance, and the increasing globalisation of China’s investment market.
CEO quarterly update: reaching out in challenging times
We live in challenging times, and above all our thoughts are with those affected by the coronavirus. The communities we live and work in are a critical focus for all of us during this time as neighbours, friends, relatives and colleagues. During difficult phases such as this, the importance of sustainable capital markets, and how they can impact everything from healthcare infrastructure to supply and demand, comes acutely into focus.
SEC vote seeks to create roadblock for responsible investment
Major policy changes to address the implications of climate change will happen. The question is when and how bad the damage will be to society and the global economy when the necessary changes are implemented – a topic we explore in our Inevitable Policy Response research. The financial impacts of rising sea levels and extreme weather events, for example, and the demise of businesses that fail to adapt will all impact the value of investors’ assets.
Are investment horizons preventing integration of ESG factors?
Workshop participants believe that ESG factors can materialise through a series of short-term, incremental upticks or downticks that individually impact short-term and long-term investment returns. A possible consequence of ESG factors becoming more short-term in nature is that more investors with short-term strategies may embrace ESG integration for alpha generation.
ESG analysis: Is judgement more important than data?
Investors and analysts have been investing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data from data providers and also developing the skills of their in-house teams to better understand ESG issues. Good analysts and portfolio managers exercise judgement to fill in the gaps when data are not available.
PRI welcomes first asset owner signatory in China
China has been one of the PRI’s fastest-growing markets since its debut there in 2017, but only now has our first asset-owner signatory joined up. Chinese giant insurer China Ping An joining the PRI implies a significant shift in the ESG investment landscape in China and beyond. In most markets, asset owners have been the first movers on ESG integration, but in China, the reverse has held true so far.
Trois recommandations pour poursuivre l’innovation française en matière de finance durable
Par Annaïg Antoine, Relationship Manager, France, Ben Leblique, Associate, Signatory Relations, Marie Luchet, Director Continental Europe et Blandine Machabert, Policy Analyst, PRI La conférence PRI in Person, qui se tient cette année à Paris du 10 au 12 septembre, offre une belle occasion de faire le point sur le marché français de la finance durable.
Modernising modern portfolio theory
By Jim Hawley, Head of Applied Research at Truvalue Labs and Professor Emeritus, Saint Mary’s College of California, and Jon Lukomnik, former Executive Director, IRCC Institute, and soon to be Visiting Professor, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge This article is part of the PRI’s efforts to stimulate conversation around the implications of modern portfolio theory on the changing investment landscape.
How multilaterals can change the game for sustainable finance
By Margarita Pirovska, Head of Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century, PRI/UNEP FI in Geneva Multilaterals, like the OECD, G7 and G20, represent a missing piece of the jigsaw in sustainable finance policy. While national policies promoting sustainable finance and investment have developed at an unprecedented rate, at a multilateral level, this topic has been mostly led by environment or development departments.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Margarita
Contact Margarita, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack