“O God, make me good, but not yet," wrote Evelyn Waugh in Brideshead Revisited. Proponents of environmental, social and corporate governance-related investing have long argued there is an economic benefit to sustainability. But finding empirical evidence to support the notion is far from straightforward.

A series of academic papers have concluded, with varying degrees of rigour, that a sustainable approach produces corporate outperformance. The Kay Report, sponsored by the UK government, has presented detailed arguments in favour of companies investing for the long term.