home
frankly speaking podcast

#17 David Atkin: New directions for the Principles for Responsible Investment

Listen to David Atkin, CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

After a little more than one year since he was appointed new CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment, PRI, founded by the United Nations, David is sharing insights into new directions on Frankly Speaking. 

The PRI’s six Principles of Responsible Investment have more than 5000 signatories worldwide and since David’s arrival, the PRI has finished a worldwide consultation which will lead to some important decisions by its board later this month. David is a pensions industry leader who has previously been CEO of three asset owners in his native Australia, and he was once ranked as the third most significant and impactful asset owner in the world.

Listen to this conversation about: 

  • System change and the responses from policy-makers
  • Regional cooperation and voluntary pathways of transition
  • Complementing other initiatives in the responsible investment ecosystem
  • ESG backlash 
  • Greenwashing 
  • The disjunction between the growth of ESG investment and the need for finance for the sustainable development goals

“Greenwashing is clearly a concern: Are you just joining the PRI because it's a marketplace expectation? What's the real evidence that actually you're serious about what you're doing? The main thing that we want to lock in is agreement from our signatories that if you are a member of the PRI, you must progress over time. You can't just sit static.”

David Atkin in Frankly Speaking

You may also like these episodes

31:41

#115 Sarah Hechler & Christopher Bayer: How Well Are German Companies Doing HREDD?

What’s the track record of German companies implementing the LkSG? Listen to Sarah Hechler, previously Social Project Manager at the UN Global Compact Netzwerk Deutschland, and Christopher Bayer, Senior Researcher on the study and Principal Investigator at Development International

33:08

#114 Bennett Freeman & Chloe Cole: How Have US Corporates Responded to the ESG Backlash?

Are US companies retreating from or respecting human rights? Listen to Bennett Freeman, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Chloe Cole, Senior Researcher in US Business and Human Rights at the Business and Human Rights Centre

47:06

#113 Kathryn Dovey & Alex de Vries-Gao: Responsible AI - What You Need to Know

From Responsible Business to Responsible AI: what you need to know and do. Listen to Kathryn Dovey, founder of Recalibrate and ex-OECD & Alex de Vries-Gao, data scientist and researcher at VU Amsterdam