Sustainable Trading Shutters Citing “Political Headwinds”

Just over three years after launch, the Sustainable Trading initiative has announced it will run down the business thanks to a combination of “external shifts and internal realities” that brought into question its long-term prospects.

The initiative was launched in February 2022 with 30 founding members from the asset management, banking, brokerage, exchange and technology sectors and the aim to transform environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices within the financial markets trading industry. Early signs were positive, with the group doubling its membership in the first 18 months, however member numbers started declining from the high in 2024, with “further losses expected”.

The group observes that over the past year, the environment for sustainability-focused organisations has become “significantly more challenging” with mounting political and regulatory headwinds that have deprioritised ESG across many financial institutions. This makes, Sustainable Trading says, collective progress harder to sustain. 

Internally, the initiative lost several members of staff, including founder Duncan Higgins, who said he would not return from a period of medical leave in the same capacity. This reduced the organisation’s capacity to deliver at the level expected by members, it says, adding that although options for scaling back were considered, the board concluded that such models would not deliver sufficient value or impact.