The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has launched a consultation on its future strategy, as it seeks to respond to shifting investor priorities amid both a political backlash against net zero, and concerns there has been insufficient global action to address carbon emission levels, rising temperatures and the impact of climate change.
This consultation comes after significant US political opposition to responsible investment, particularly around ESG and DEI, which has led to a number of US asset managers scaling back commitments or withdrawing entirely from global coalition groups, such as the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
At the same time, there has been increased scrutiny of many ESG initiatives, and the value being delivered to shareholders.
The PRI said this consultation exercise, conducted among more than 5,000 signatories, will help it understand how investor priorities are evolving and where responsible practices need to evolve over the next three years. It points out that investors are operating in an increasingly complex environment shaped by geopolitical shifts, technological disruption, demographic change and environmental pressures.
The UN-backed organisation says it wants to understand where its signatories face the greater pressures and how it can deliver the most value and impact in the near future.
The consultation will run until 24 August, with the strategy due to be published in March 2027. It forms part of the PRI’s three-year strategic review process, required under its Articles of Association.
The consultation builds on the PRI’s wider programme of engagement with signatories, including its Future of Responsible Investing project, regional events and discussions held as part of its 20th anniversary programme. Alongside the formal survey, further engagement with signatories will continue throughout 2026.
The PRI’s interim chief executive Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff says: “The PRI must also evolve to deliver the greatest value for its signatories in this new investing reality.”
She adds: “The consultation will help us understand where signatories derive the greatest value from the PRI today, where their expectations are changing, and where we should focus our efforts in the future. The choices we make over the coming year will help shape the PRI for the next decade, and it is essential that those choices are informed by the voices of our signatories.”
While the PRI’s announcement does not signal any significant watering down to its core mission, this consultation suggests that in some cases these aims may need to be tempered by political and financial realities. It also recognises the very different stance now taken by US and European/ UK investors on these issues, which is a marked difference to when it first set out its core goals.
The consultation builds on the PRI’s Future of Responsible Investing project and wider engagement with signatories during its 20th anniversary programme. The organisation said feedback from the consultation will be considered alongside wider signatory engagement. It aims to publish a summary of responses and the PRI Board’s formal response in November, before finalising the strategy next March.
The PRI, which was launched in 2006, now has more than 5,000 signatories representing US$139.6tn in assets under management.
