ESG

The Exchange: Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan

9 Nov 2021

With a $2.8 trln balance sheet, BofA is one of the largest banks in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Moynihan tells Rob Cox what this means operationally, how the bank is helping “hard to abate” firms to transition, and what it’s like to be back at conferences.

Forget COP26. The world needs COPPER 26

5 Nov 2021

The climate shindig is all about cutting demand for fossil fuels. The required flipside is a 2020s surge in production of metals for all those extra wind turbines and electric cars. Stay tuned for a separate forum in which governments and miners thrash out how that might happen.

Coal’s end will come sooner than Glasgow suggests

5 Nov 2021

Agreements struck at the COP26 summit point to the fossil fuel being a major carbon dioxide source for 20 years or more. But even after a recent rally, the valuations of specialist miners like Peabody and Whitehaven imply the mineral will be around for nowhere near as long.

Viewsroom: Climate and tech shindig dispatches

5 Nov 2021

World and business leaders made some headway in pledges to limit planetary frying during the first week of COP26 in Glasgow, say George Hay and Rob Cox. Also, venture capitalists and startups mingled along the banks of the Tagus in Lisbon with Peter Thal Larsen and Karen Kwok.

Mark Carney is key-man risk for bank net-zero club

3 Nov 2021

Finance firms with $130 trln of assets are pledging green targets thanks to the former BoE governor’s arm twisting. That’s good, but Carney’s job is only half-done while JPMorgan and co decide detailed goals. Were he to head off to run Canada, the momentum might get lost.

Shell’s Loeb parry uses cash, capex and chutzpah

28 Oct 2021

The $190 bln oil major needs to deflect activist Third Point’s call to split itself up. High crude prices make it easier to promise fat cash returns and invest more in green energy. Given Shell should have done that anyway, fending off Dan Loeb also requires a certain brass neck.

Capital Calls: Aussie climate plan stumbles

28 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: The federal government won’t sign a pledge to reduce methane emissions.

Moving carbon goalposts will be a wrenching burden

27 Oct 2021

The work required to make a net-zero transition is far harder than regularly announced political targets suggest. A soccer team in Taranto, Italy, home to Europe’s largest and most notorious steel mill, offers a glimpse into the economic struggles facing cities the world over.

Xi’s green reticence is partly trade-war ploy

27 Oct 2021

China’s president seems unlikely to attend the UN climate summit in Glasgow, and the country’s updated plans to cap emissions look unimpressive. Beijing may want to extract Western concessions for more ambitious carbon targets. Its environmental cleanup will proceed regardless.

Road to COP: Sealing the deal

26 Oct 2021

Seasoned climate change lawyer Rick Saines received recognition from the French state for his role in making the 2015 Paris Agreement a landmark success. With days to go until Glasgow’s equivalent COP26, he chatted to George Hay about how this one could pan out.

Australia’s climate plans amount to giant COP-out

26 Oct 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has abrogated responsibility to states for an underwhelming 2030 emissions target. His 2050 net-zero goal also sees a long future for fossil fuels and relies on untested technology. It’s reasonable to expect more from a country on the front lines.

India Insight: Climate fight goes way beyond coal

26 Oct 2021

A green agenda supports Narendra Modi’s goal to boost the nation’s self-sufficiency. India’s tycoons aim to develop and export the cheapest, solar-generated hydrogen. Private capital will help renewables power economic growth, but coal and net zero are the elephants in the room.

Breakdown: COP26 gets an ambitions downgrade

25 Oct 2021

An energy crisis and no-show from Xi Jinping are undermining next week’s critical climate gathering in Glasgow. Getting all states to set 2050 net-zero goals is a stretch. Maintaining some momentum via nearer-term pacts in areas like phasing out coal has more chance of success.

Viewsroom: Oz goes green-ish; “Squid Game”

21 Oct 2021

Australian climate policy is a work in progress, and Antony Currie fears the country’s net-zero plans may yet prove to be a damp squib. On the other hand, the South Korean drama is anything but: Jennifer Saba explains why the show is a major victory for Netflix and its investors.

UK’s net-zero bill is less painful than it looks

20 Oct 2021

Britain’s pre-COP26 investment pledges augur ill for securing up to 60 bln pounds a year of mostly private capital to cut CO2 emissions. Yet unlike peers, it now has a solid net-zero strategy. If that wins over investors, other states may decide to offer similarly clear roadmaps.

Capital Calls: Spanx’s “velvet ghetto”

20 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: Blackstone’s investment in the undergarments company was closed by an all-woman team. That’s progress, but not the best kind.

Road to COP: Making companies do better

19 Oct 2021

Anne Simpson is one of the key figures in U.S. climate finance. As head of Board Responsibility at U.S. pension fund CalPERS, it’s her job to give companies a hard time if they shirk on decarbonisation. Ahead of November’s critical COP26 conference, she chatted to George Hay.

Capital Calls: Real estate distress is tricky call

15 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital has raised a $10 bln fund to buy struggling buildings. With the pandemic's long-term effects unclear, the key will be avoiding those destined to remain empty.

Green clouds blow forcefully into Canberra

15 Oct 2021

Miner South32 is the latest Aussie company to bow to climate-conscious shareholders. Its carbon-friendly deal coincides with central banker Guy Debelle warning that overseas investors may dump assets over the country’s net-zero dithering. Financiers may cast the deciding vote.

Green transition needs a wider focus than oil cuts

13 Oct 2021

Fossil fuel investment has fallen to levels that would limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the IEA says. Yet measures to hike green energy and curb demand are just as important, and lagging. Unless states act, high energy prices risk becoming an ongoing headache.