FTI Consulting has been dumped by at least three of its clients while several global asset managers are reviewing their relationship with the business advisory and public relations consultancy, as the fallout from a media report about controversial work for the oil industry intensifies. MSCI, the ratings and index provider and CDP, a non-profit group…
Category: climate change
Business Support for Science-Based Climate Policy Seen as Critical to Rein in Climate Change
As President-elect Biden makes clear that tackling climate change will be at the fore front of his administration’s agenda, investors and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) are announcing the launch of a new initiative designed to enlist the support of business in this endeavor. In recognition of the enormous power and…
How FTI Consulting Drove Influence Campaigns Nationwide for Big Oil – The New York Times
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times wrote a devastating expose of the tactics used by FTI Consulting on behalf of its fossil fuel company clients, including dark money-funded fake front groups, fake “news” organizations, even a fake Facebook profile of a woman who loved farmers markets and ice cream, which they used to monitor…
Make climate risk reports mandatory for 480 FTSE firms, say investors | Environment | The Guardian
An influential group of investors is urging UK regulators to make climate risk reporting mandatory for nearly 500 FTSE-listed firms. The Investment Association (IA), which represents 250 members with £8.5tn in assets, has thrown its weight behind calls for compulsory environmental disclosures, amid concerns that listed companies are not being transparent about how climate risks…
Billionaire Chris Hohn forces first annual investor vote on climate policy | Financial Times
Spanish airports operator Aena is set to become the first company in the world to give shareholders an annual vote on its effort to tackle climate change, bowing to pressure from billionaire UK hedge fund manager Chris Hohn. Sir Christopher’s TCI Fund Management, one of Aena’s largest independent shareholders, has been at loggerheads with the…
Mark Carney says banks should link executive pay to Paris climate goals
Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said banks should link executive pay to climate risk management, as part of efforts to align the finance industry with Paris climate goals. \\…He said banks must “have some interim objectives and targets that are disclosed. Ideally a governance process that’s clear in terms of … specific…
Opinion | Big Business’s Undisclosed Climate Crisis Plans – The New York Times
SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee writes about the inadequacy of the information investors get about climate change risk: As the climate crisis intensifies, U.S. environmental policy has moved dangerously backward, with nearly 70 environmental rules reversed during this administration, and 30 more reversals in process. This intransigent, head-in-the-sand approach will not alter the reality of…
Fidelity, BlackRock Reject Trump Limits on 401(k) ESG Investing – Bloomberg
The world’s largest asset managers are speaking out against a Trump administration plan that would make it more difficult for them to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors when making investment decisions, a move that could limit green investing in 401(k) plans. Fidelity Investments wrote in an 11-page letter to the U.S. Department of Labor that the…
CERES Ties Governance to Environment
From Ceres, a new report called Blueprint for Responsible Policy Engagement on Climate Change. The full report is below. An excerpt: Companies that establish robust governance systems to address climate change as a systemic risk and align their direct and indirect lobbying efforts to support science-based climate policies will drive the creation of a regulatory…
MSCI Launches Climate Change Indexes for China Stocks – The New York Times
MSCI published two climate change indexes on Tuesday that allow investors in China stocks to lean toward companies with lower carbon emissions. The move represents MSCI’s efforts to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in China, where the government seeks a difficult balance between reducing pollution and sustaining growth in a coronavirus-hit economy. The…
