SPOTLIGHT

The European Banking Authority is revising the framework that sets industry-wide capital requirements for lenders, known as Pillar 1, to incorporate environmental and social risks. These rules will likely impact high-emitting sectors like oil, gas, cement, steel, and mining.

While the EU is making progress in some areas, it’s also facing backlash to environmental protections among its own lawmakers. A coalition of center-right lawmakers who claim that the EU puts too heavy an administrative burden on its businesses proposed weakening mandatory sustainability disclosures for about 50,000 companies. This proposal, slated for a vote next week, will be an important signal for the future direction of EU climate policy.

NEWS

• Axios: Mideast crisis could alter outcomes of upcoming UN climate summit 
• Barron’s: At IMF-World Bank Talks, Small Steps In Climate Finance
• Bloomberg: Wars, Trade Bans and Climate Change Turn Food Into Politics | Banks Told to Review Clients Amid Historic ESG Crackdown in EU 
• Bloomberg Law: Comer Demands SEC Turn Over ESG, Europe Documents 
• CarbonBrief: Tenth of UK’s climate-aid spending goes via private consultancies
• Center for Economic Policy Research: Smoke and mirrors: A look inside ESG fund portfolios
• Chicago Tribune: With climate change, Illinois farmers seek federal investment 
• CNBC: U.S. oil is back, and ExxonMobil’s $60 billion deal isn’t even the biggest signal | A big climate change stress test is coming for Amazon sellers and suppliers 
• Edie: Oatly campaigns for mandatory climate labelling on food and drinks in the UK 
• Financial Times: Rishi Sunak’s net zero rollback risks raising household bills, warns climate adviser | UK competition watchdog green lights rules for climate collaboration
• Government Executive: House Republicans want answers on agency spending on Biden’s federal climate corps
• Grist: The EU just kicked off its biggest climate experiment yet
• The Guardian: IMF should give poor countries $300bn a year to fight climate crisis, says Joseph Stiglitz 
• Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: Boards Confront Evolving Risks and Pressures During Another Disruptive Year 
• MarketsMedia: FSB Publishes Progress Report on Climate-Related Disclosures
• Newsweek: Florida’s Insurance Crisis is About to Get Even Worse 
• The New Yorker: The Great Cash-for-Carbon Hustle
• The New York Times: Climate Advocacy Group Plans to Spend $80 Million on Ads to Aid Biden 
• Pensions & Investments: Republican committee leader threatens SEC with subpoena on aiding EU with ESG regulations | Earnings dominate, Fed Chair Powell speaks on U.S. economy
• Reuters: As global debt worries mount, is another crisis brewing? | EU wrangles over negotiating stance for COP28 climate summit | World Bank, multilateral development banks jointly seek to boost lending power | EU lawmakers push to weaken corporate sustainability disclosure
• Toronto Star: Business groups applaud Supreme Court ruling against federal environmental impact law 
• USA Herald: California New Climate Disclosure Law Sparks Uncertainty and Preparation Frenzy
• Vox: What happens if you force companies to reveal how much they contribute to climate change? 
• The Wall Street Journal: Getting ESG Reporting Ready and Uninsurable Risks
• The Washington Post: These houses are at risk of falling into the sea. The U.S. government bought them. 

OPINION

• Bloomberg: Add Inflation to Reasons to Worry About Climate Change
• Forbes: SEC Could Be Moving Towards Regulation Of DEI In The Financial Industry  
• The Gazette: Congress must protect billions to help farmers tackle climate crisis
• Los Angeles Times: Climate change isn’t just about emissions. We’re ignoring a huge part of the fight 
• Yahoo Finance: As climate gentrification displaces poor residents, state should focus on affordable housing 

OPPOSITION

• Independent Women’s Forum: Americans Don’t Want Businesses Wading Into Current Events Like ESG
• The New York Post: SEC abets latest climate cheat by Dems: The Green New Deal is a shuck! | Climate-swap debt is a bad idea 

SOCIAL 

• Roger Kuperman shared a link: State governments that ban pension investments with fund managers that have ESG funds is a spiteful gesture that ultimately harms taxpayers and state retirees
• Will Hild shared a fake story: REMINDER: The Biden Admin’s ESG war on domestic energy has left us largely dependent on foreign producers. So, any unilateral moves (like the one threatened here) could have very real consequences for the American people. It didn’t have to be this way. Dependence was a choice.

DATES

• October 17: Orbitas The High Cost of Ignoring Scope 3 Deforestation Emissions Webinar. Register here. 
• October 26: Ceres Charting Progress Webinar: Regulator Actions on Climate Financial Risks. Register here. 
• October 31: Ceres A Guide for Businesses: California’s New Climate Disclosure Legislation Webinar. Register here.