Green Lights June 27: Top stories this week
Don't miss a single story from the best of Callaway Climate Insights.
. . . Welcome back to Green Lights. Here’s our roundup of the best of Callaway Climate Insights. This week David Callaway looks at predictions of how the climate crisis could lead to the next global financial crisis, and what’s happening at London’s Climate Action Week. Plus, Mark Hulbert asks: How can a company with a zero net carbon footprint nevertheless have huge climate-related investment risk? See the answer below. To all our friends suffering under the heat dome, we wish you a cooler weekend. Please subscribe to support our climate finance journalism.
. . . . One of the oldest mantras in the financial markets is that any potential crisis that can be forecast will not end up a market-shaking debacle. Black swan events are by their very nature surprises. David Callaway spotlights a Financial Times report on how climate change will cause the next financial crisis, and it’s worth a read. The feature gamely notes that the transition is continuing apace in many other parts of the world. But with the U.S. out of the picture, and the largest financial markets in the U.S., nobody would be surprised at the contagion of a U.S. crisis spreading to Europe and Asia. Just like last time.
. . . . Ready for today’s climate finance riddle? How can a company with a zero net carbon footprint nevertheless have huge climate-related investment risk? The answer: If the company’s largest customers are oil companies, writes Mark Hulbert. A new climate risk tool from Boston investment firm GMO, called the “Indirect Emissions Model,” seeks to go beyond the traditional risk measurement practices that take into account a company’s direct emissions and those from its supply chains. It’s a valuable new tool for investors still hoping to wipe climate risk from their portfolios but likely will call far more companies into the risk spectrum than previous tools.
. . . . Say what you will about the annual climate summit calendar, but the fact that London Climate Action Week is roughly double the size of last year’s event is a shot across the bow of New York as the U.S. retreats on global warming commitments, says David Callaway. Ahead of New York’s Climate Week in September, climate advocates will be keen to see how the U.S. administration’s hostility toward many forms of renewable energy will play out in terms of attendance.
. . . . Pay no attention to those peak oil reports behind the curtain, says the White House. Not content with blacklisting investment fund giants and banks from new business opportunities because of accusations they are hurting investors with environmental and social practices, the anti-climate brigade is now claiming the International Energy Agency is biased against oil for its reports that demand will soon start waning. David Callaway says that despite the White House claims to the contrary, energy market trends lay out a clear future for oil demand. No amount of bullying can change that.
. . . . Delegates from 58 countries met in Milan, Italy this week to discuss the status of a 64-year-old treaty to protect another important region’s fragile environment from commercial and political exploitation — the Antarctic. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, not usually a vital date on global summit calendars, is taking on special importance this year as the global scramble for rare earths and minerals has led some countries, such as Russia and China, to conduct research on oil and gas in the area. We’ll keep an eye on the results.
Like a lid on a pot: How does a heat dome work? (NPR)
Sinking feeling: A third of Pacific island nation applies for Australian climate change visa (BBC)
Precipitation whiplash: New accelerating weather danger (Fast Company)
Tallying bananas: The best places to grow them could get too hot for the fruit (Yale Climate Connection)
Resiliency and recovery: The future is blue and green infrastructure (World Economic Forum)
June is the new July: Why summer heat is arriving earlier (Washington Post