Responsible Investing in the Asia-Pacific Region: Understanding Sustainability and Investments in Japan and Hong Kong/China in an Era of Global Climate and Environmental Change

Abstract

The author of this thesis examined the concept and market development of responsible investing (RI), which can be defined as an investment process that integrates social and environmental considerations within the context of traditional investment processes. RI has become a well-established financial investment approach in United States and Western Europe (US/WE) as well as an important business, environmental, and societal issue. However, RI has not, to date, been explored as a financial investment approach outside of the US/WE region, especially in Japan and Hong Kong, China. Given its rapidly increasing economic footprint on the global economy, Asian pathways on economic development, particularly China might heavily influence the directions and impacts of corporate sustainability governance on the global level. Moreover, in order for RI to serve as a finance-based solution to climate change and other business and sustainability dilemmas worldwide, this thesis author argues that RI needs to become a market instrument that can respond more effectively to a complex array of social, environmental, and economic sustainability challenges.