Difference between different providers' ESG scores in 2017, by reason

According to an academic study conducted in 2020, the main reasons for divergence between scores provided by five of the major environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings agencies is because of scope and measurement. Scope refers to which issues are factored into the score, while measurement is how these performance on these issues is quantified. Based on 2017 data, there was an average of 0.5 standard deviations between providers for these two categories. However, it should be noted that the same study with 2014 data showed average values of 0.48 for scope and 0.54 for measurement, indicating the latter may be slightly more of a reason for ESG score divergence. The weight placed on each issue did not have as much of an effect, with an average of 0.31 standard deviations.

The ESG frameworks included in the study were Sustainalytics, Vigeo, RobecoSAM, Asset4 and MSCI.