Sustainability

Virus inflates allure of Abu Dhabi gas pipelines

23 Jun 2020

The emirate’s oil giant ADNOC has sold 49% of its infrastructure arm to investors including GIC and Brookfield. A $21 bln valuation is higher than mooted before Covid-19. That’s probably because the virus has made a combination of secure assets and leverage even more appealing.

Amazon’s climate fund is a worthy sideshow

23 Jun 2020

The $1.3 trln e-commerce giant’s new $2 bln fund could invest in everything from energy storage to farms. Google’s green-energy experience shows even better focused bets often don’t pay off. Investing to deploy existing technology does. Jeff Bezos’ outfit will do that too.

The Exchange: Pehr Gyllenhammar

23 Jun 2020

Long-time Volvo CEO Pehr Gyllenhammar was pushing radical environmental and social changes at the carmaker long before they became fashionable. One of Sweden’s most admired businessmen argues why CEOs should be paid less and how it felt to become a father again at 81.

Greening global recovery is cheaper than it looks

18 Jun 2020

Scattergun stimulus for virus-hit economies may increase carbon emissions. But new research suggests it would cost only a fraction of the $9 trillion mobilised to fight Covid-19 for policymakers to combat climate change and grow their economies at the same time. It’s worth a go.

BP’s greener credentials sharpen focus on dividend

15 Jun 2020

The energy giant is writing off up to $17.5 bln after slashing long-term oil price forecasts. BP’s green transition would get an extra boost if it cut dividends to spend more on low-carbon output. But as Royal Dutch Shell has found, that irks investors it needs to keep sweet.

Norilsk Nickel hits investors when they’re down

11 Jun 2020

The miner’s biggest shareholder Vladimir Potanin wants to cap 2020 dividends at 25% of forecasts. ESG-conscious foreign investors will have blanched after it leaked 21,000 tonnes of fuel. They’ll be even less keen on cutting payouts by a lot more than the apparent cleanup costs.

Exxon climate activists can call in reinforcements

28 May 2020

Environment-linked resolutions won less backing at the $193 bln energy firm’s annual meeting on Wednesday than at rivals’. Replacing directors is the next logical step. It’s a task traditional activists are more used to – and Exxon’s poor financial record could pull them in.

Burst Michigan dams send pollution risk to surface

27 May 2020

Flooding after heavy rain almost reached a Dow chemical-storage site. That’s one crisis averted, but in general, companies pay too little attention to water contamination. Its effects are vast and are part of recent high-profile legal fights. But cleaning up won’t break the bank.

Energy’s titans will experience a dead cat bounce

21 May 2020

The virus-led crude price crash is upending petrostates and oil majors alike. Incumbent leaders with storage capacity and low costs might seem to be the winners as smaller competitors flounder. But they’ll fall victim to the longer-term behavioural shifts prompted by Covid-19.

Dixon: We need green deals, but will we get them?

18 May 2020

There’s a growing investor consensus that post-pandemic recovery plans should be green. But what should those “green new deals” look like? How should they be funded? And how can governments be pressurised to play ball?

Carmakers’ green future gets revved up by Covid-19

18 May 2020

The virus has added pollution fears to climate-change concerns. That should be a boon for electric vehicles when production restarts. But cheap oil makes gas guzzlers look even more economical. State incentives like trading in clunkers for EV discounts would help tip the balance.

Sustainable investing’s virus halo is premature

18 May 2020

Environmental, social and governance-focused funds outperformed peers in the first quarter, new BlackRock research suggests. Steady inflows are encouraging given the fear investors would ditch ESG in a crisis. But one quarter alone is not enough to judge the sector.

Climate fight will survive pandemic’s mixed legacy

14 May 2020

Covid-19 distilled into weeks the havoc global warming will cause over years. Going green will help states avoid a permanent version of stranded airline, oil and other assets. The challenge is to balance short-term jobless worries with the need for a sustainable economic future.

Corona Capital: Air travel, Starbucks

14 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Airlines’ experienced hands offer warning; Starbucks begins dance with landlords.

Climate activists get bigger bang from smaller ask

11 May 2020

U.S. fossil-fuel firms have been more resistant to shareholders’ demands on global warming than European rivals. But a majority of Phillips 66 owners just backed a climate vote that Exxon and Chevron will soon face. The activists’ success may be down to their more targeted scope.

Supply chains’ tectonic shift will get viral jolt

7 May 2020

Tariffs, automation and climate change had businesses rethinking how best to secure their goods even before Covid-19. The pandemic has highlighted global supply chains’ vulnerability to lockdowns. Countries and companies alike will increasingly set their sights nearer home.

Guest view: Climate change is the next Covid-19

30 Apr 2020

The failure to properly plan for the coronavirus outbreak has made dealing with it much harder. As former White House energy and climate adviser John E. Morton argues, the cost of addressing damaging global warming will be similarly increased unless governments show leadership.

Earth Day’s 50th comes at just the right moment

22 Apr 2020

Half a century ago, Americans protested in droves for cleaner air and water. But progress has slowed, or been undone, while air pollution costs the global economy $3 trln a year. The pandemic has given a taste of a less smoggy world that could bolster efforts to cut emissions.

Shell helps avoid net-zero focus on climate change

16 Apr 2020

The oil major has followed BP in toughening its long-term carbon reduction ambitions. As with those of peers, the new goals are still not much more than a start. Still, with Covid-19 forcing Big Oil into crisis mode, their main virtue is to keep global warming on the radar.

Strong dollar hits renewables when they’re down

30 Mar 2020

Plunging oil prices have already made wind and solar power less attractive. But a coronavirus-led weakening of emerging market currencies also pushes up the dollar cost of new projects. That puts a brake on growth just when the opposite is needed to hit carbon reduction targets.