Asia-Pacific Investors Raised Allocations Toward ESG Investments in 2020 March 15, 2021 Sustainable investments are not just picking up momentum in the United States. In the Asia-Pacific region, institutional investors raised allocations toward environmental, social, and governance investments during the pandemic last year as well. The global pandemic has helped raise ESG awareness, highlighting how catastrophic events like climate change can impact investment returns, CNBC reports. According to a recent MSCI 2021 Global Institutional Investor survey, in the Asia-Pacific region, around 79% of investors increased ESG exposure ‘significantly’ or ‘moderately’ in response to Covid-19. In comparison, 77% of investors globally raised exposure to sustainable investments last year. Overall, the figure jumped to 90% among the largest institutions, or those with more than $200 billion of assets.