ESG

Aussie fires light tiny flame under climate action

22 Jan 2020

The damage may cost an estimated 0.5% of GDP, barely registering in the $1.3 trln economy. Politicians may act as social costs mount, but change will come faster if stakeholders also heed warnings that “secondary perils” could be recurring rather than one-off.   

How Jamie Dimon can grab Larry Fink’s green halo

21 Jan 2020

Now that the BlackRock boss has got serious about climate change, the focus is on his JPMorgan peer. As CEO of the biggest U.S. bank, Dimon’s sway over corporate debt gives him more power than any equity activist. Deploying it would turn his bank from laggard to leader.

Vale dam cleanup hints at miners’ rising ESG bill

21 Jan 2020

The world’s top iron ore producer faces criminal charges for a deadly 2019 dam collapse. It has spent billions on reparations and safety upgrades, and seen its share price stumble. The total financial hit is yet to become clear, but other resources firms will face reckonings too.

Guest view: Extinction Rebellion, finance’s friend

20 Jan 2020

The radical UK climate movement may sound like the corporate sector’s last idea of a kindred spirit. But spokesperson Rupert Read argues its focus on fast, deep carbon reductions are simple common sense, for financiers too. That’s why he is in Davos this week.

Larry Fink slowly becomes part of climate solution

14 Jan 2020

The BlackRock boss says the giant asset manager will dump thermal coal-focused investments, and vote against directors who aren’t doing enough on climate change. With most of its $7 trln assets tracking indexes, the firm can only go so far. But Fink’s tone suggests a step change.

BlackRock starts to tackle uneven climate record

9 Jan 2020

The world’s largest money manager is joining the planet’s biggest anti-pollution investor group. Larry Fink’s firm hasn’t always been a visible ESG champion – it even voted against the coalition’s proposals in the past. At least BlackRock is now hanging with the right crowd.

Guest view: How to cut the ESG disclosure overload

7 Jan 2020

The data Fortune 500 companies provide on environmental, social and governance risks can be overwhelming, hard to compare and lacking much financial use. Geoffrey Heal and Shiva Rajgopal of the Columbia Business School lay out a plan to clean up the informational morass.

Sustainable investing will wind up in the dock

31 Dec 2019

Around $31 trln of assets under management now include some kind of environmental, social or governance factor. But there’s widespread confusion over definitions. That leaves the market open to egregious mis-selling and fraud. A scandal is likely sooner rather than later.

China will get sideswiped by American ESG fervour

24 Dec 2019

There’s talk of delisting People’s Republic stocks from U.S. bourses and a proposal to block public pension funds from buying them. Concerns about human rights, audits and price swings are also being amplified. That feeds into the social-impact hype and will spark capital flight.

India Insight: Onion prices add to nation’s tears

23 Dec 2019

Amid violent protests over a citizenship law, Indians are also having to deal with poor harvests for this staple of the curry dish. It’s a glimpse into how changing climate patterns will exacerbate inefficiencies and create more of the volatility famous for toppling governments.

Climate-bond cold shoulder gets harder to justify

10 Dec 2019

Even though green bonds perform well and can weather economic cycles better than regular issues, they’re still constrained by limited demand. Poor transparency and a comparability have been a turnoff, but a new Nasdaq tool means even that argument no longer holds much water.

Green “Minsky moment” cannot come soon enough

9 Dec 2019

Regulators have already flagged the risks of a sudden repricing of asset values when climate policies kick in. New United Nations-supported research attempts to quantify the impact. If politicians wait until 2025 to grasp the nettle, the hit to equity markets will be more severe.

ESG rating sellers unite from a position of fear

5 Dec 2019

S&P Global and Moody’s have recently bought suppliers of environmental, social and governance data. That highlights ESG’s increasing importance. But the dealmaking also reflects rating providers’ need to tool up and improve often flawed metrics before someone eats their lunch.

TCI plays outrider to Mark Carney’s climate drive

2 Dec 2019

Chris Hohn’s hedge fund plans to penalise directors at companies who don’t publish climate change data. If others follow suit, it could boost the Bank of England governor’s push for transparency. What’s less clear is whether greater disclosure delivers investment rewards.

Action speaks louder than words on ESG issues

28 Nov 2019

Big index funds justify holding stocks with poor environmental, social and governance profiles by pledging to engage with their bosses. New research suggests this isn’t working. While there’s merit in naming and shaming, pension funds voting with their feet is more effective.