Index & ESG Ratings Provider

MSCI

Publisher of 1,500+ climate index variants and the AAA-to-CCC ESG rating framework.

About

MSCI is a global provider of indices, ESG ratings, and analytics used by institutional investors for benchmarking, portfolio construction, and risk management. Its ESG methodology is peer-relative and centered on financial materiality.

What they provide

MSCI Climate Action, Paris-Aligned, and CTB index families
MSCI ESG Ratings (AAA to CCC) across 35 key issues, 10 themes
Climate VaR and scenario analytics
Listed futures on select climate indices via ICE

Institutional use cases

Paris-aligned equity and fixed-income mandate construction
Peer-relative ESG risk benchmarking
Passive index benchmarking for institutional strategies

Coverage & cadence

Global equities and fixed income; annual rating cycle with parallel controversy tracking.

How C100 uses this source

C100 tracks MSCI climate-action methodology and cross-references its ratings against Sustainalytics for divergence signals.

Referenced in

Portfolio Analytics

How to Benchmark US-Based Carbon Equities: A Quantitative Guide

Carbon Markets

Best Carbon Economy Index Tools for Institutional Investors in 2026

Benchmarking