SPOTLIGHT
Barclays classified a $10 billion revolving credit facility for Shell as “social and environmental financing,” helping Barclays reach its $150 billion sustainable financing goal. Regulators are concerned that these climate commitments are a dishonest attempt to continue funding fossil fuels, even if Shell’s borrowing is eligible due to roundabout fees and interest rates linked to carbon intensity reduction. These concerns are part of larger worries that without scientific, legible standards for sustainability metrics, financial institutions risk false marketing and greenwashing.
NEWS
- Barron’s: ESG’s Swirl of Acronyms Conceals a Few Driving Themes
- Bloomberg: More ESG Lawsuits On the Horizon as Investors Jump On a UK Law
- Bloomberg Law: American Airlines Lambastes Suit Over ESG Funds in 401(k) Plan | US Insurers Had $500 Billion in Fossil-Fuel Assets, Study Finds
- CFO Dive: Gensler pressured by 80 Democrats to adopt climate risk rule
- CNN Business: Masdar aims to raise $3B to finance green projects
- E&E News: House Dems urge ‘strong’ SEC climate disclosure rule
- ESG Clarity: Baillie Gifford hits back at Greta Thunberg over ‘greenwashing’ claim | What is the future of proxy voting and ESG?
- Financial Times: S&P drops ESG scores from debt ratings amid scrutiny | Provider of anti-woke ETFs closes funds because of low inflows
- FTAdviser: Green and social bonds ‘not more risky’ than conventional bonds
- Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: How Governance Professionals Are Guiding Corporate Disclosure on E&S Topics
- Houston Chronicle: Harvard climate scholar resigns from Conoco board after backlash
- Impact Alpha: Racial bias in VC + climate risk in insurance
- Insurance Journal: US Insurers Invested in Fossil Fuels as Climate Risks to Underwriting Mount
- Investment Executive: Options abound for ETF investors seeking global equities with an ESG focus
- IR Magazine: UK announces creation of new Sustainability Disclosure Standards
- Knowledge at Wharton: How the Share of Green Stocks in Institutional Portfolios Is Vastly Overstated
- National Association of Plan Advisors: American Airlines Pushes Back on Participant’s ESG Suit
- National Legal and Policy Center: NLPC Factors Into Proxy Season with Shareholder Activism
- Pensions & Investments: House Democrats urge Gensler to quickly finalize climate disclosure rule
- Popular Information: Republicans publicly bash Bud Light, quietly pocket Bud Light money
- Reuters: New paper shows that ESG polarization in law firms is more myth than reality | New Zealand, BlackRock to launch $1.22 bln climate infrastructure fund | US insurers invested in fossil fuels as climate risks to underwriting mount | New paper shows that ESG polarization in law firms is more myth than reality
- The Telegraph: Barclays says loan to Shell is ‘environmental financing’ amid wider greenwashing fears
OPINION
- Mountain Democrat: California Commentary: CalPERS walks tightrope on ESG principles
- The Telegraph: The ESG movement is being exposed as a dangerous con
OPPOSITION
- One America News: Blackrock’s CEO To Stop Using The Term “ESG”
SOCIAL
- Beau O’Sullivan tweeted: @Shell has massive plans to expand oil & gas, and has nulled any semblance of climate plan it had. But it still qualifies for huge funding from @Barclays and the bank gets to call it green! Beyond a joke. @TheFCA @bankofengland need to rein in these cowboys. Stop the greenwash!
- Positive Money US shared a TikTok: PART 1: Your bank may be talking the talk on climate – but don’t be fooled. US banks only care about profit, not people & planet. 🌎 They’re gambling on dirty energy putting our communities and the stability of our entire economy at risk. So where are the bank watchdogs, the regulators that are supposed to do something about this? Thats where the Federal Reserve comes in. We’re working to make sure the Fed reins in Wall Street.
- Steven Rothstein shared a link: New research from @CeresNews, @SustInsti, and @Persefoni shows that U.S. insurers have significant exposure to fossil fuel assets, despite citing climate risk and natural disasters as factors in raising premiums and dropping coverage. Learn more @naic
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.