US Treasuries Blacklisted by German State as ESG Law Takes Hold (2)

For an illustration of how wildly different the debate around ESG is in Europe and the US, look no further than the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

One of the richest regions in Europe’s biggest economy, and the home of Mercedes-Benz Group AG as well as Robert Bosch GmbH, adopted a law this year that puts investing sustainably on par with more traditional criteria such as profitability and liquidity. It’s a decision that may affect as much as a fifth of the state’s €17 billion ($18 billion) of holdings, as it pivots away from ESG laggards.

Few outside Germany paid ...