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    Scientific scrutiny of sustainability

    Scientific scrutiny of sustainability

    29 January 2024 Responsible investment, Video

    Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School

    Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex has a PhD from MIT as a Fulbright Scholar, and was previously a tenured professor at Wharton and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. In this video he provides some key insights on why scientific scrutiny of sustainability is crucial.

    Key takeaways:

    • Professor Alex Edmans explained why scientific scrutiny of sustainability is crucial because if we question what we see, we can avoid being greenwashed and focus on quality to seek superior financial returns and make a positive impact.

    • Stories, statistics and studies can exploit our biases. These biases can lead us to accept claims uncritically, especially if the claim confirms what we’d like to be true. Have we checked the claim to confirm how it has been substantiated? What is being measured? quantity rather than quality? Is it a quantitative rather than qualitative measure? What might have been intentionally omitted?

    • What is the case-effect relationship being claimed? Are there common causes behind it? Would the effect have happened anyway? 
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