‘ESG’, a term that has come under fire in recent months, is past its prime and is only fanning the flames of a backlash against green investing in the UK, two influential sustainability experts have warned.

Desiree Fixler, a former DWS executive who blew the whistle on greenwashing at the German lender’s asset management unit, told a Barron’s Live panel hosted by Financial News that the three-letter acronym “did serve a purpose back in the day” to raise awareness of risks and investment opportunities. But now it is just “an umbrella term that is powering a great deal of unfortunate culture wars”.