According to ESGclarity.com, salaries have increased as the number of candidates with ESG and sustainability skills do not match up the number needed by the market. Tom Strelczak, founder of independent search firm TWS, said that a new role for an ESG expert might bring twice the salary for an equivalent role.

“In the past, it wasn’t seen as something that was worth paying for. But now those that have been sat doing ESG in some capacity for the last 10 to 15 years and never moved, have realised they are probably worth double in the market what they used to be,” said Strelczak.

According to the experts, the market is looking for the best people and as it happened in the past in the IT sector, there's a discrepancy between offer and demand. Specialists in the ESG field are seeing companies willing to bid for them with salaries and big bonuses.

Another issue in the market is growing an ESG team inside the company. Experts do not want to go into a company that is using ESG just as a marketing strategy, but they don't have the freedom of implementing policies.

“People that are passionate and purpose-led in sustainable finance don’t want to go in to an environment where they’re constantly knocking their head against a wall where people don’t want to and aren’t willing to listen,” said Strelczak. Also, in the "Safety in Numbers - Levelling The Playing Field for Green Finance", law firm TLT found that 34% of firms were prevented from advancing in the sustainability field due to a lack of expertise on the board.