ESG Spotlight | The COVID-19 Incidents Curve: Corporate Events and Impacts

Exhibit 1 ESG Spotlight July 2020

Sustainalytics’ new ESG Spotlight Series report, The COVID-19 Incidents Curve: Corporate Events and Impacts, explores emerging ESG trends related to COVID-19 corporate incidents tracked since January 2020. Our report looks at sector involvement, markets where incidents are occurring and high-profile cases of company exposure.

While the COVID-19 infection curve has been flattening in some key regions, we find globally COVID-19 corporate incidents continue to climb and currently total 1,270 cases, which amounts to 12 percent of all ESG incidents captured in the first half of 2020. Below are additional key findings from our report.

  • About 31 percent of COVID-19 incidents are linked to Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S), driven in large part by the Consumer Discretionary sector
  • COVID-19 incidents contributed to 273 Event Indicator downgrades, which amounts to 10 percent of all event downgrades during the first half of 2020
  • COVID-19 corporate incidents have occurred in 68 countries. The US alone includes 680 cases – nine times the next most exposed market, the UK, where 73 have occurred

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