Featured Pathways

More pathways

The Science of Climate Change

Climate change is no longer a distant threat or just a possibility, it is now a reality for all of us. In this pathway, Kevin Trenberth, a renowned climatologist, delves into the science behind climate change. He first introduces the climate system, its main components and forces.

Tackling the Plastic Crisis

Plastic pollution is by far the biggest threat to our oceans and this remains an incredibly tough problem to solve. Plastic credits could potentially serve as one of the much needed solutions for this crisis.

More pathways

Book a demo

Pricing

Ready to get started?

Plans & Membership

Our Platform

Expert led content

+1,000 expert presented, on-demand video modules

Learning analytics

Keep track of learning progress with our comprehensive data

Interactive learning

Engage with our video hotspots and knowledge check-ins

Testing & certification

Gain CPD / CPE credits and professional certification

Managed learning

Build, scale and manage your organisation’s learning

Integrations

Connect Sustainability Unlocked to your current platform

Featured Content

More featured content

The Scale of the Net Zero Challenge

The price of meeting net zero is estimated to be between $100-150 trillion over the next 30 years. Regardless of this cost, we need to reach net zero before climate change does irreversible damage to the environment and the economy.

ESG, Sustainability and Impact Jargon Buster

ESG, sustainability, impact… they all just mean green, right? Not quite. Despite being used often interchangeably, there are distinct differences between these terms.

More featured content

Book a demo

Pricing

Ready to get started?

Featured Pathways

More pathways

The Science of Climate Change

Climate change is no longer a distant threat or just a possibility, it is now a reality for all of us. In this pathway, Kevin Trenberth, a renowned climatologist, delves into the science behind climate change. He first introduces the climate system, its main components and forces.

Tackling the Plastic Crisis

Plastic pollution is by far the biggest threat to our oceans and this remains an incredibly tough problem to solve. Plastic credits could potentially serve as one of the much needed solutions for this crisis.

More pathways

Book a demo

Pricing

Ready to get started?

Plans & Membership

Our Platform

Expert led content

+1,000 expert presented, on-demand video modules

Learning analytics

Keep track of learning progress with our comprehensive data

Interactive learning

Engage with our video hotspots and knowledge check-ins

Testing & certification

Gain CPD / CPE credits and professional certification

Managed learning

Build, scale and manage your organisation’s learning

Integrations

Connect Sustainability Unlocked to your current platform

Featured Content

More featured content

The Scale of the Net Zero Challenge

The price of meeting net zero is estimated to be between $100-150 trillion over the next 30 years. Regardless of this cost, we need to reach net zero before climate change does irreversible damage to the environment and the economy.

ESG, Sustainability and Impact Jargon Buster

ESG, sustainability, impact… they all just mean green, right? Not quite. Despite being used often interchangeably, there are distinct differences between these terms.

More featured content

Book a demo

Pricing

Ready to get started?

Book a demo

Pricing

Ready to get started?

Future Direction of Venture Capital ESG

Future Direction of Venture Capital ESG

Johannes Lenhard

ESG & VC Specialist

If not enough people are willing to integrate ESG across the VC value chain, we will never get the data we need. Join Johannes Lenhard as he explores the future direction of venture capital ESG, the hurdles and some further case studies.

If not enough people are willing to integrate ESG across the VC value chain, we will never get the data we need. Join Johannes Lenhard as he explores the future direction of venture capital ESG, the hurdles and some further case studies.

Subscribe to watch

Access this and all of the content on our platform by signing up for a 7-day free trial.

Future Direction of Venture Capital ESG

9 mins 10 secs

Overview

Why ESG matters financially for VCs can be broadly captured in three points: fundraising, performance and exit. There is no quantitative dataset for the VC ecosystem yet as people are only starting to measure ESG as we speak. Many people want to see conclusive and specific quantitative data (for the asset class of private equity or venture capital) on the business case before they act. But If not enough people are willing to integrate ESG across the VC value chain, we will never get the data we need. There are still major hurdles to be overcome, including when it comes to deciding which data to focus on – from problems with standardisation to how to integrate intangible and non-financial metrics

Key learning objectives:

  • Understand the future of venture capital ESG

  • Outline the hurdles to achieving venture capital ESG

  • Understand how we can overcome these hurdes

Subscribe to watch

Access this and all of the content on our platform by signing up for a 7-day free trial.

Summary

What is the future of venture capital ESG?

Many people want to see conclusive and specific quantitative data (for the asset class of private equity or venture capital) on the business case before they act. We don’t have that yet – and if not enough people are willing to integrate ESG across the VC value chain, we will never get there. 

What are the hurdles to achieving venture capital ESG? 

There are still major hurdles to be overcome, including when it comes to deciding which data to focus on – from problems with standardisation to how to integrate intangible and non-financial metrics. Even more worryingly, it is unclear whether data will convince the inconvincible. As Alison Taylor of Ethical Systems and NYU, a long term ESG researcher and professional argues, neither the business case nor any other data will be enough to make some people change their behaviour. We need to win hearts and minds and much of that will not happen with short-term focused financial metrics, even if they are turning out to be pointing in our direction. In simple terms, we tend to seek out information which confirms our beliefs and biases – researchers call this motivated reasoning. 

How can we overcome these hurdles?

1. It matters greatly who does the convincing and arguing. 

It needs to be people on the level of the to-be-convinced or ideally even higher up. What that means for VCs is simple: LPs need to continue asking questions and talking to their fund managers. And so do other, possibly more powerful VCs and the ecosystem will assimilate more likely based on FOMO and peer pressure. 

2. Having the right argument

Or as Taylor of Ethical Systems describes: instead of fact-driven statements, let people experience what they need to change. Blackrock’s Larry Fink decided on a fishing trip to Alaska that climate change was real and he needed to embrace stakeholder capitalism. VCs are fortunately already prone to going out into the world – now they need to leave their tech-hubs and Silicon Valleys a little more and experience the problems they have partly been causing themselves.  

Subscribe to watch

Access this and all of the content on our platform by signing up for a 7-day free trial.

Johannes Lenhard

Johannes Lenhard

Johannes teaches and researches homelessness and the social science of venture capital at the Max Planck Cambridge Centre for Ethics, Economy and Social Change at the University of Cambridge. Johannes is also a co-founder of the not-for-profit VentureESG, a global community of almost 300 VC funds and asset owners committed to advancing ESG practises in VC.

There are no available videos from "Johannes Lenhard"