Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway is required reading for investors of all kinds, both for its investment insights and Buffett’s folksy wisdom on many subjects. In his wide-ranging letters, there’s one topic that’s seldom mentioned – climate change. That is until this year, when Buffett warned that wildfire-related losses at […]
As we look back on 2023, one of the most significant events of the past year was the demise of ESG investing. Or, to be more precise, the end of the term itself. That’s a good thing, because it will open the way to greater clarity and accountability about investment risks. The term ESG has […]
Is a new day dawning at Exxon? Exxon shareholders elected two directors backed by an activist shareholder who called for changes in the oil giant’s response to climate change. It’s the first proxy campaign at a major US company where directors were the target and climate change was the issue. Anne Simpson of the California […]
Sometimes the most important news gets the least attention. Yesterday, to little fanfare, IHSMarkit, a financial data company, announced it would introduce a global registry for carbon credits using distributed ledger technology. It would link various registries around the world and provide a single data set for all projects and credits. Why is this so […]
Like spring blossoms, corporate proxy statements will start to arrive in the coming weeks. They are likely to reflect both the extraordinary events of 2020 and the continuation of trends that have been gathering momentum in recent years. Boards face a big challenge to address these issues effectively, and the quality of their communication will […]
We’ve written about the carbon market over the years. We’ve asked, for example, whether blockchain technology could boost its growth. We’ve highlighted the success of California’s cap-and-trade system, and we’ve suggested that the carbon market shares a lot of similarities with another asset class that grew from humble beginnings – emerging-market debt. Today, the carbon […]
Shares in Pacific Gas & Electric took a beating this week as investors reacted to its potential financial exposure to wildfires in California. It is risk the company has openly identified, but investors seemed caught by surprise. The episode could mark the end of investor complacency about climate risk. Earlier this week, the big […]
Here’s a brief update to my post on climate risk: Today’s New York Times reports on the disappearance of climate change from the US policy agenda. Abandoned by President Obama and scorned by Republicans, climate-change policy is dormant in the US, even while other nations take patient steps to control carbon emissions. The Times piece […]