The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, whose members include right-wing culture warriors Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, will hold its first hearing on sustainable investing Wednesday.
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Republican-controlled House targets ESG
Get your popcorn ready. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, whose members include right-wing culture warriors Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, will hold its first hearing on sustainable investing Wednesday. Witnesses for the Republicans are the Attorneys General from Utah and Alabama, both recent signatories to a letter warning asset managers that supporting climate, social, or other initiatives at companies may be a breach of fiduciary duty. Word is Dems are looking for an AG witness as well.
These hearings—presumably the first of many—are part of a coordinated and well-funded plan designed in part to build evidence for a series of antitrust and other lawsuits against companies and associations trying to cut pollution, provide benefits to employees, and undertake other actions the far right finds abhorrent, according to a leaked copy of the plan.
Grow a spine
The growing pushback against climate-focused investments is increasing the need for corporate leaders, especially Larry Fink of BlackRock, to step up and defend their commitments. While some corporate leaders like Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan are taking a stand, Fink’s annual shareholder letter and public comments this year shied away from defending sustainable investing, intent on not getting caught up in the culture wars. As political pressure mounts, the future of climate change efforts may rely on these leaders' ability to resist opposition and continue pursuing sustainable investment strategies.
Insurers get cold feet
Insurers are rethinking their strategy todefend themselves against potential legal risks after three high-profile exits from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance and threats of antitrust lawsuits from the far right. The firms that left the alliance have stressed their continued commitment to a net-zero future, just as individual companies. This is a positive sign given that insurers still have a core business interest in climate action, especially as insurance premiums continue to rise in the face of mounting climate disasters.
New era at the World Bank?
Ajay Banga was confirmed as the new President of the World Bank, replacing climate-confused David Malpass, who ended his five-year term early. Banga certainly has a big job ahead of him. As the debt crisis balloons alongside the rising cost of climate change, calls to reform the bank have grown louder and more urgent from civil society as well as debt-distressed and climate-vulnerable nations. The incoming President has expressed his belief that addressing climate change and development go hand-in-hand, but the question remains, how much can one person change decades of company culture and entrenched national priorities?
In other multilateral development bank news, the Asian Development Bank unveiled its flagship climate finance initiative this week, “Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific.'' Alarms are already ringing that this will only exacerbate the existing debt crisis.