ESG

Corona Capital: Brexit curveball, Sonos

19 November 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: a Covid-19 scare for European Brexit negotiators puts an already-optimistic deadline to the test; and wireless-speaker maker Sonos joins the list of companies profiting from consumers being stuck indoors.

Deutsche Boerse jumps on ESG train with ISS deal

18 November 2020

CEO Theodor Weimer is spending $1.8 bln on 80% of the U.S. proxy adviser after missing out on Italy’s bourse and an FX trading platform. Accurately scoring companies’ environmental, social and governance credentials is a growth business. But it’s also a crowded field.

Renewable energy gets its very own Masayoshi Son

13 November 2020

Aussie mining mogul Andrew Forrest unveiled plans for his Fortescue to go big in green projects. Targets include competing with global oil giants in production capacity. The bold strategy will spark a frenzy – both helpful and harmful – just as the SoftBank boss did in tech.

Fed is only half way to climate-change conversion

10 November 2020

The U.S. central bank finally acknowledged that a warming planet poses real risks to the financial system. The Damascene moment is late but sets the scene for more concrete action now that the politics looks more favorable. And at least the Fed will have a late-mover advantage.

Stored carbon could morph into investment gold

20 October 2020

Capturing and storing CO2 is expensive, judging by a new project in Norway. But the need to curb emissions is persuading states to take the plunge. The rising cost of emitting carbon dioxide means the technology may soon give investors a new regulated asset to embrace.

P&G learns climate rebuke is no longer glacial

14 October 2020

BlackRock joined other shareholders to reject the $359 bln firm’s claim that it does plenty to protect forests. Reporting on efforts to save trees is an easy ask that companies, like Exxon, have worked around. Still, it gives investors a launching pad to push for more.

Banks only partly to blame for weak green targets

13 October 2020

HSBC and JPMorgan are among lenders pledging to align their financing with the Paris accord to cut carbon emissions. A general absence of detail might just be because they have big fossil fuel loan books. But it also reflects the problem with measuring financed emissions.

Guest view: Five ways to hit Europe’s green goals

9 October 2020

The EU’s aim to cut 2030 carbon emissions by 55% is ambitious. It means more renewables, less coal, and new thinking on energy demand and efficiency. Meanwhile, notes Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, the extra 350 bln euros it will cost annually will require private sector help.

Singapore’s bid for insolvency tourism is at risk

8 October 2020

The city-state picked elements of both U.S. and UK bankruptcy law to boost its attractiveness for hosting corporate workouts. But the glacial resolution of water treatment giant Hyflux could discourage the creditors the city needs to support its campaign to become a genuine hub.

Xi puts clean energy to good use beyond climate

23 September 2020

China’s president says his country will be carbon-neutral by 2060. The pledge is credible because it’s in Beijing’s interests; Xi may also be trying to warm frigid European negotiators, and defang sceptics. It’s also plausible because China is exporting pollution to poor countries.

Green bonds could slide into irrelevance

17 September 2020

Securities used to finance environmentally friendly investments are thriving, with everyone from JPMorgan to Germany charging in. Yet the $800 bln market does not necessarily mean greener issuers. As investors get better at differentiating, green bonds could become redundant.

UBS reframing of ESG investing changes the game

11 September 2020

Portfolios factoring in social and climate issues are now the “preferred” option for its $2.6 trln of private-client assets. Making them the default, with no caveats about performance, is a big deal. It’s necessary, if not sufficient, to drive substantive real-world change.

Rio Tinto board can choose CEO – at expense of ESG

10 September 2020

Many shareholders want harsher punishments for the mining giant’s destruction of Aboriginal heritage sites. Robust returns are one reason to stop short of axing boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques. If he stays, though, Rio’s responsible investing credentials will be deeply discounted.

Big Oil’s green turn is justified by the numbers

7 September 2020

BP’s call to hike spending on renewables risks a repeat of past goofs. But hard data implies oil majors have been the ones eroding shareholder value in recent years. By comparison, the falling expense of wind and solar power and their lower cost of capital make them a safer bet.

Fashion can bear the costs of virtue cotton

25 August 2020

Most of China’s crop comes from the persecuted Uighurs’ home region. Forced labour may taint some of that, but clothes makers do not yet trace their complex supply chains back to the farms. Scrutiny from politicians and investors means careful sourcing makes financial sense.

Trump’s ESG animus creates ultimate systemic risk

18 August 2020

The U.S. president and his team are loosening methane rules and even pushing a daft showers rule. The administration also wants to hobble investors’ ability to weigh environmental, social and governance concerns. Combined, they put the climate and the financial system in peril.

Guest view: Let’s gauge firms’ real CO2 footprints

14 August 2020

Corporate reports often cite carbon emissions created by companies’ production and customers. But, as Extinction Rebellion spokespeople Roc Sandford and Rupert Read argue, these ignore the global warming tacitly supported through lobbying and advertising. That needs fixing.

The Exchange: Dov Seidman

4 August 2020

The founder of LRN, a technology and education firm that advises global corporations on culture, governance, ethics and other matters chats with Rob Cox to discuss the importance of moral leadership, an issue that has taken on increased importance during the Covid-19 crisis.

James Murdoch headlines broader ESG challenges

2 August 2020

The one-time heir apparent to his father’s media empire quit the board of Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp. He cited clashes over content and strategy. If the ultimate insider can’t have much sway at a company, imagine how hard it is for outsiders such as BlackRock.

Corona Capital: Ford narrows the gap

30 July 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The Detroit automaker put in a better second-quarter performance than expected. That’s good news for under-pressure CEO Jim Hackett – and allows Ford to close some of the distance to rival GM.