SPOTLIGHT
A recent Financial Times op-ed highlights three inherent inconsistencies within sustainable investing that make it difficult to implement effectively and consistently.
1. Contradictions between ESG goals and actions: Recent events including the UK government’s decision to issue new North Sea oil and gas licenses contradict the fossil fuel policies of many banks.
2. Challenges in defining and measuring sustainability: Expanding regulation leads to challenges in weighting and morally evaluating different aspects of E, S, and G.
3. Lack of clarity in ESG investment strategies: Lack of uniformity in how companies are evaluated on ESG performance leads to uncertainty about both profitability and ethical meaningfulness for investors, potentially exposing asset managers to class action lawsuits.
These inconsistencies make it even more imperative to eliminate greenwashing and promote consistent, legible sustainable investing practices.
NEWS
- Bloomberg: Morgan Stanley Reaches 70% of $1 Trillion ESG Funding Goal | Aramco, Glencore Take On Energy Transitions: ESG Week Ahead | ESG Strategy Receives Tough Feedback in Latest Bloomberg Survey
- Bloomberg Tax: ESG Investors Take Aim at Clean Energy Tax Credits to Meet Goals | ESG’s Impact Is Emerging on Net Earnings Before Interest, Taxes
- The Bond Buyer: Muni underwriters still grappling with Texas anti-boycott laws
- BusinessGreen: ‘Deeply irresponsible’: Government faces fresh calls to rethink pro-fossil fuels policies
- The Center Square: Texas energy insiders push back against Democratic plan to sue fossil fuel industry
- ESG Clarity: Global sustainable fund flows continue deceleration path in Q2
- Financial News: Political concerns over green finance costs threaten ESG reporting push
- Financial Times: Britain’s investors shy away from UK defence companies | Private equity firms offer sweeteners to lure reluctant investors
- Forbes: Ron DeSantis Vows To Kneecap ESG, Calling It An ‘End Run Around Our Constitutional System’
- Fortune: How Fortune Global 500 companies fall short on ESG
- Fox 59: How climate change could make your home harder to insure
- Grist: Extreme heat is here. Can insurance help protect us?
- Impakter: The EU’s Tango With Sustainability: New ESG Reporting Standards Adopted
- Jacobin: The Fossil Fuel Industry Is Paying the GOP Handsomely to Deny Climate Change
- The Kansas City Beacon: Missouri’s secretary of state reins in environmentally minded investing
- LA Progressive: California Wildfire Insurance Crisis
- Legal Dive: Record number of ESG shareholder proposals go to a vote
- The Maine Monitor: Paying a premium: Challenges of insurance in a climate-altered world
- MarketWatch: S&P Global Ratings to End Use of Alphanumeric ESG Credit Indicators
- The New Yorker: What Should You Do with an Oil Fortune?
- Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Speaker of the Arkansas House appoints El Dorado businessman to ESG committee
- Pensions & Investments: U.K. begins work on corporate ESG disclosure rules | Many companies experiencing ESG backlash, Conference Board finds
- Politico: Asset managers aren’t making the grade in climate class
- Responsible Investor: Is the SEC ‘no action’ process the next battleground in the ESG backlash?
- Reuters: Royal Bank of Canada, criticized on climate, seeks executive to tackle issue | Climate change puts sovereigns at downgrade risk, study finds
- The Wall Street Journal: California Privacy Probe Highlights Evolving Social and Governance Risks for Auto Industry
- The Washington Post: Europe blinks in its commitment to a great green transition | How Florida let a top insurer abandon homeowners in their time of greatest need
OPINION
- BusinessMatters: The Rise and Fall of Ethical ESG Funds: Understanding the Backlash
- Corporate Secretary: Why effective ESG starts and ends with your investors
- Financial Times: New generation of funds signals evolution of ESG | Rebranding ESG won’t save it from its internal contradictions
- Forbes: Does Private Equity (PE) Have An ESG Problem – Part 1? | Does Private Equity (PE) Have An ESG Problem -part 2? | Greenwashing Unmasked: A Critical Examination Of ESG Ratings And Actual Environmental Footprint
- The Hill: Right-wing politicians playing ‘armchair financial advisor’ are putting Americans’ retirements at risk
- The New York Times: As Climate Change Worsens, Big Oil’s Support for Clean Energy Is Lacking
- The Seattle Times: Don’t let the oil industry gaslight us about high prices at the pump
OPPOSITION
- Breitbart: Big Investors Decide ESG Is an Underperforming Fad
- Cowboy State Daily: Wyoming Finalizes Rules Against ESG’s ‘Woke Clown Show’ In State Business
- Daily Mail: Market insiders ditch ‘woke capitalism’: 87% say funds focussed on tree-hugging social causes will lose money, two thirds write off ‘ESG’ as a passing fad
- RealClearMarkets: Ratings Agencies Pile-Drive ESG Rankings Into Credit Scores
- Straight Arrow News: They said boycotts rarely work. This is why Bud Light is different.
- Washington Examiner: BlackRock executives claim they’ve given power to investors amid ESG backlash
SOCIAL
- Kentucky State Representative Josie Raymond shared a photo: Allison Ball was treasurer for 8 years – but if you ask me she did a terrible job – she never found the treasure! Allison is adamantly against ESG, a form of responsible investing. When asked why, she said, “I just think it’s creepy to read people’s minds.”
- Sanjeev Sanyal shared a link: Joe Rogan show discusses how ESG Ratings are a tool of global control in the hands of a very small cabal. Exactly what I have been arguing.
DATES
- August 23-25: Global Research Alliance on Sustainable Finance and Investment 2023 Annual Conference. Register here.
- August 24-26: The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City 2023 Economic Policy Symposium “Structural Shifts in the Global Economy.”
- September 17-24: Climate Group Climate Week NYC. View list of events here.
- September 20: UN Climate Ambition Summit.