By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Credit rating agencies need to improve how they refer to environment, social and governance factors in their ratings used by investors to direct huge sums into sustainable funds, the European Union’s securities watchdog said on Thursday. In the first half of 2021, assets in EU sustainable funds rose by 20% to 1.5 trillion euros, with credit rating agencies seeking to meet soaring investor interest in ESG factors, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said. The EU wants to increase this flow of funds to help its economy meet net zero targets, but r…