SPOTLIGHT
Asset managers are having a tough time selling funds in Europe that aren’t ESG-registered. The European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) has spurred 3.4 times more client flows into ESG categories compared to non-ESG funds, according to a study by Goldman Sachs. And in California, two bills passed out of committee that would require large corporations operating in the state to disclose their emissions and climate financial risks. As states and other bodies catch on to the benefits of accounting for climate risk, the pressure is on the SEC and other financial institutions to do the same.
NEWS
- Axios: Investment with a side of guilt
- Bloomberg: Global Banks Falling Behind on Emissions Reporting, Study Shows | Barclays Warns of Bond Risk Few Creditors Are Pricing Right | Goldman Analysts Have Bad News for Fund Managers Ignoring ESG | Gabon Coup to Hinder Africa ESG Bond Sales, BNP Strategist Says | What’s Happening With ESG-Linked Loans? Why Is There a Downturn? | EU’s Green Banking Metric Will Mislead Stakeholders, Lobby Says
- Citywire: The Inside Story of ESG episode 1: From five funds to $3tn
- Commercial Observer: As Climate Change Clobbers Cities, Here’s How to Better Analyze the Risks
- Common Dreams: ‘This Is Absurd’: Major Banks Continue to Fund Climate Chaos in Global South
- ESG Clarity: US insurers own over $500bn in fossil fuel assets | What did you miss in ESG this summer? | Morningstar reveals asset managers consistently committed to ESG
- The Guardian: Banks pouring trillions to fossil fuel expansion in global south, report finds
- The Hill: Congress faces ticking clock on flood insurance as hurricane season picks up
- Investment News: What proxy votes show about how dead ESG is
- Investments & Pensions Europe: Aviva slammed over charges for adding ESG exclusions to pension funds
- IR Magazine: Vanguard joins BlackRock in backing fewer ESG proposals during 2023 proxy season | Balancing act: Dealing with anti-ESG sentiment
- Jacobin: Vivek Ramaswamy Is Combining Climate Denialism With an Attack on “Woke Capitalism”
- Lexology: Oregon County Sues Fossil Fuel Companies and Consulting Firm For Damages Related to 2021 ‘Heat Dome’
- The Messenger: How Will Homeowners’ Insurance Be Affected By Idalia?
- Mother Jones: The Rise of Vivek. The Return of Masters. The College Libertarians Won’t Go Away
- National Law Review: Republicans Unveil Bills Targeting ESG in Securities and Banking
- The New Republic: Vivek Ramaswamy Is Teaching the GOP to Weaponize Climate
- The New York Times: Clean Energy Projects Are Booming Everywhere. Except in Poor Nations
- Politico: DeSantis’ super PAC chief: We’re spreading dirt on Ramaswamy
- Responsible Investor: Identify climate laggards to understand litigation risk, NGFS tells central banks
- Reuters: UK investors’ stocks sell-off accelerates, ESG ‘boom ends’
- Top1000funds: The Politicisation Of Investments at US Public Funds
- USA Today: How billion-dollar hurricanes, other disasters are starting to reshape your insurance bill
- The Washington Post: Home insurers cut natural disasters from policies over climate risk | Why we all need to think like Floridians now
OPINION
- Bloomberg: Brazilian Meatpacker JBS Listing on NYSE Would Be an ESG Nightmare
- Chicago Tribune: We can’t wait to slow down climate change. A carbon fee is a necessary step.
- Forbes: Brazil’s Lula Embraces ESG Just As World Starts To Hate It | The Great ESG Retreat?
- Fortune: Smoke and mirrors: I’ve been debating Vivek Ramaswamy for 2 years. Here’s how I got past his diversionary tactics
- Los Angeles Times: How home insurers are trying to bully California politicians into a disastrous bailout
- Risk & Insurance: Even If the ESG Focus Is Distorted by Political Static, Governance Should Remain Steadfast
- The Wall Street Journal: I’m Paying the Bill for ESG
- The Washington Post: How corporate liberalism is changing both parties
OPPOSITION
SOCIAL
- Stop Adani shared a thread: #Adani’s climate-cooking, land-grabbing, tax haven-loving coal empire has been rocked by fresh evidence of alleged insider trading, stock manipulation & accounting fraud. Here’s a quick news round up from the last 24 hours.🧵@MSCI_Inc @BlackRock @Barclays
- Vivek Ramaswamy shared a video: Republican crony capitalism in the 2008 bailouts gave rise to left-wing crony capitalism in the guise of ESG in the decade that followed. Two sides of the same uniparty that merged corporate & state power to create a new demon that’s the real threat to liberty today.
DATES
- September 17-24: Climate Group Climate Week NYC. View list of events here.
- September 19: Sustainable Investment Forum North America. Register here.
- September 20: UN Climate Ambition Summit.
- September 25-26: Insure Our Future Campaigning Academy ’23. Complete this form by September 11th to express interest.