Sustainable Switch: Stop this madness, 'We are in a climate emergency!'

Everfuel A/S

28/04/2022 11:38

Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com
    
    
Hello!
    
Environmental activists in Germany have made themselves known
again this week after feeling ignored by the government, but
elsewhere investors clamoring Wall Street banks to stop
financing fossil fuels were left in the lurch. So, plenty of
headlines but little real progress for climate change promoters.
    
The German activists turned off https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/activists-turn-off-german-oil-pipelines-north-sea-drilling-protest-2022-04-27
 oil pipelines at five locations on Wednesday, demanding that
the country look for other ways to reduce dependence on Russian
gas than starting new fossil fuel-based infrastructure projects,
such as deep-sea drilling. Their anger was fueled by Finance
Minister Christian Lindner saying Germany should rethink its ban
on allowing new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
    
"We are in a climate emergency! The German government not only
ignores it, it plans to fuel it further. To now want to drill
for oil in our North Sea - this is madness that you must stop,
Mr. Habeck!" activist Edmund Schulz said in a statement,
referring to German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
    
Meanwhile, investors at Citigroup and Bank of America https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/bank-shareholder-proposals-curb-new-fossil-fuel-lending-get-slim-support-2022-04-26
 gave little backing to proposals essentially asking the banks
to stop financing new fossil fuel supplies. Less than 13% of
shares at Citi and less than 11% of shares at Bank of America
were cast in support of the proposals, according to preliminary
tallies given by bank leaders.
    
If that wasn’t bad enough, a new report by ratings firm S&P
global https://www.reuters.com/world/climate-change-putting-4-global-gdp-risk-new-study-estimates-2022-04-27
 showed that climate change could see 4% of global annual
economic output lost by 2050 and hit many poorer parts of the
world disproportionately hard.

Talking Points
-India's northwestern Rajasthan state https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-heat-wave-disrupts-industrial-activity-power-demand-soars-2022-04-28
 scheduled four hours of power cuts for factories, making it at
least the third state to disrupt industrial activity to manage
surging power demand amid an intense heat wave.
-Column: A survey by KPMG released this week https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/global-miners-rank-esg-their-top-concern-really-russell-2022-04-27
 shows that 72% of mining executives agree that "ESG will be a
cause of major disruption in the industry over the coming three
years." If mining executives really believe this, it seems
somewhat strange that they have yet to re-organize and
re-orientate their management structures and efforts to reflect
that view.
-Harvard University is setting aside $100 million https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harvard-sets-up-100-million-endowment-fund-slavery-reparations-2022-04-26
 for an endowment fund and other measures to close the
educational, social and economic gaps that are legacies of
slavery and racism, according to an email the university’s
president sent to all students, faculty and staff on Tuesday.
-Elon Musk may not like it, but environmental credentials still
come second to profit https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-says-you-cant-save-planet-short-tesla-esg-investors-disagree-2022-04-26
 and loss for the world's sustainability-minded investors - even
if that means "short-selling" shares to bet on a price drop.
-Breakingviews: General Motors is keeping executives’ eyes on
the road https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/gm-electrifies-executives-pay-2022-04-27.
 The Detroit automaker’s boss, Mary Barra, announced that her
compensation will be tied, in part, to how many electric
vehicles the company sells. It’s a new – and solid – spin on car
companies’ pledges to ditch gas guzzlers.

In Conversation
Michael Froman, vice chairman and president of strategic growth
at Mastercard
 “From our perspective, building more inclusive economies is
absolutely critical to achieving ESG. Our goal is to help build
a more inclusive and sustainable digital economy. 
“The metrics around S (social) don’t always reward companies for
focusing on things like social impact. It focuses a bit more on
how you treat your employees, which is vitally important. But
this is an example where, as important as those metrics and
ratings systems are, we are not going to change our behavior
because the metrics don’t encapsulate financial inclusion. 
“We are going to continue to advocate that the metrics should
include things like financial inclusion and other things that
companies do which create social impact, but for us it is such a
natural thing to do and we see real value in terms of creating
greater financial resilience and helping people be part of the
digital economy.”
    
ESG Lens
    
    
The global capacity of power plants fired by coal https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-coal-plant-capacity-edges-up-2021-hitting-climate-report-2022-04-26,
 the fossil fuel that emits the most carbon dioxide when burned,
rose nearly 1% last year as the world recovered from the
COVID-19 pandemic, according to a research report by a U.S.
environmental group, Global Energy Monitor.
    
ESG Movers and Shakers
-The U.S. Green Building Council has hired Lisa Revitte as chief
operating officer (COO), supporting both USGBC and Green
Business Certification. Revitte has 20 years of operations
experience and served as the COO for the Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun Violence, and most recently held the same position
at FOX Architects.
-Søren Eriksen has been appointed as the chairperson of the
board at Danish-based hydrogen fuel company, Everfuel. Eriksen
has in-depth experience as chief financial officer and CEO of
large Danish companies and from private equity and consulting
firms within renewable energy, technology and the energy
transition. He replaced Mogens Filtenborg, who stepped down from
the board.
-Energean, an international hydrocarbon exploration and
production company, has appointed Roy Franklin as the new
chairman of the environment, sustainability and social
responsibility committee. Franklin was already a non-executive
director at the company and has over 45 years' experience as a
senior executive in the oil and gas industry.
-British-based ENW Finance has hired Ian Smyth as its CEO of
Electricity North West Limited and director of ENW Finance.
Smyth is expected to join the Electricity North West Limited and
the ENW Finance boards and take up the CEO post later in the
year. He brings over 25 years of experience working within major
UK and international utilities and joins ENW from UK Power
Networks, the UK's largest electricity Distribution Network
Operator.
    
Quote of the Day
“A growing number of people want to align their investments with
their beliefs and values. Having an easy way to review a
company’s ESG rating during the research process is something
today’s investors find useful as they seek to integrate ESG in
their portfolios and evaluate a company’s resilience to ESG
risks.”
Malik Sievers, head of ESG strategy at Schwab Asset Management

Looking Ahead
-French multinational oil and gas company TotalEnergies
publishes its Q1 2022 results later today.
-HSBC holds its annual shareholder meeting in London on April
29, with the bank likely to face continued pressure from climate
activists to strengthen its policies.
-Switzerland’s parliament will be briefed on the risks of
climate change by scientists on May 2. The event was triggered
by a father’s 39-day hunger strike in the capital Bern last
year.
-A Nigerian court is expected to start hearing an appeal from
Shell on May 5, which was ordered to pay nearly $2 billion to 88
communities in Rivers State over allegations of spilling oil
that the communities say damaged farms and waterways. Shell was
stopped from selling its Nigerian assets until it is resolved.
    
Franchise
The Great Reboot
Companies in North America and Europe plan to give more
employees https://www.reuters.com/business/great-resignation-sees-more-companies-offer-equity-staff-2022-04-27
  an equity stake in their businesses to help retain talent amid
a pandemic-induced "Great Resignation", a survey showed on
Wednesday.
Global Equity Organization (GEO), a not-for-profit body tracking
global share plans and executive compensation, said 25% of North
American companies and 22% of European firms surveyed said they
would make more share grants in the future as part of their
long-term incentive programs (LTIs).
    
    
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