Financial institutions wanting to take climate action may no longer be able to do business with the state of Tennessee.Last week, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill that prevents the state from working with banks or financial institutions that won’t work with fossil fuel companies — with an exception for when the state is…
Tag: esg
Companies that exited Russia after its invasion of Ukraine are being rewarded with outsize stock-market returns, Yale study finds — and those that stayed are not – MarketWatch
The almost 1,000 companies that have opted to pull out of Russia following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine are not just benefiting from a reputational boost. They are also being rewarded by financial markets, while those who remain behind are being punished.That’s according to a new report from Yale Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research…
Thousands of Salesforce Employees Urge Brass to Cut Ties With NRA | Corporate Counsel
Salesforce employees have asked executives to cease the San Francisco-based software company’s working relationship with the National Rifle Association, after an elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, killed at least 19 children and two teachers this week.Less than two weeks earlier, a gunman killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in what authorities have…
HSBC pressured to fire “responsible investing” banker who discredited climate crisis warnings | HSBC | The Guardian
HSBC is under pressure to fire a senior banker in charge of responsible investing after a speech in which he described warnings about the climate crisis as “unsubstantiated” and “shrill”, made light of major flooding risks, and complained about having to spend time “looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years”.The…
Elon Musk Lashes Out After Tesla Dropped From ‘Social Good’ S&P ESG Index
Elon Musk lashed out on Wednesday on Twitter—the social media platform he has perhaps pretended he will buy—to complain that Tesla has been dropped from a stock market index that includes companies committed to the environment, social concerns like diversity, and corporate governance. “ESG is an outrageous scam!” Musk said, referring to the acronym that…
Farhad Manjoo: BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street Control a Piece of Nearly Everything – The New York Times
[Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street] manage funds invested by large institutions like pension funds and university endowments as well as those for companies and, in some cases, individual investors like me and perhaps you, too. Their holdings are colossal. BlackRock manages nearly $10 trillion in investments. Vanguard has $8 trillion, and State Street has $4…
Is ESG the new CRT? Pence attacks ESG investing as “left-wing politics” – Los Angeles Times
When a company loses $20 billion and — adding insult to injury — makes no meaningful adjustment to CEO “incentive” compensation, then shareholder support for regime change is entirely justified as the essence of a capitalistic market response. But, just as with the fake CRT and “grooming” claims, this is not about policy or capitalism…
Abortion Debate Puts Corporate Initiatives in the Spotlight – WSJ
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in a WSJ story about pressure on corporations to respond to a potential SCOTUS ruling on abortion rights, following a leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. “Corporates are in the crosshairs here; it’s very difficult and they have to navigate this very carefully,” said Nell…
GOP Pushes to Outlaw Divestment
Once again, we see those who love to rhapsodize about the purity of the free markets working to disrupt and distort the free market with subsidies. Donald Shaw of The Lever reports on political initiatives to make divestment of fossil fuel companies illegal. Republican state and federal lawmakers, their campaign coffers filled with fossil fuel…
U.S. regulator sues Brazilian miner Vale over ‘false and misleading’ dam claims | Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday sued Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE3.SA) for allegedly making false and misleading disclosures about the safety of its dams ahead of a 2019 disaster that killed 270 people.Beginning in 2016, Vale manipulated dam safety audits, obtained fraudulent stability certificates and misled local governments, communities and investors…