The path to success for COP27 may go through India
Welcome to Callaway Climate Insights. And especially to our new subscribers. Please enjoy, and share.
Today’s edition is free. To read our insights and support our great climate finance journalism four days a week, subscribe now for full access.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, photographed here fishing on the Snake River in Wyoming, and his family are giving away their ownership in the outdoor clothing company he started in 1973. “Earth is now our only shareholder,” Chouinard wrote in a letter posted to the company’s website. The company expects to contribute about $100 million a year. Chouinard wrote in the letter that Patagonia “considered, and rejected, the idea of a sale or IPO, as none guaranteed that its values could be upheld.”
One of the great benefits of writing a Substack newsletter is getting to know — and read — some of the other writers on the platform. I got to know Lou Del Bello, author of the Lights On climate and energy newsletter in India, shortly after launching Callaway Climate Insights in early 2020.
We both worked for Bloomberg in the past and are passionate about economic and financial news, in her case dealing with India. We decided to pool our efforts for a special report, which went out earlier today, on how each of our countries, two of the world’s three largest polluters along with China, are approaching the next big global climate summit, COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in November.
India is the world’s ground zero for climate change, with the fate of 1.4 billion people at stake. How it approaches the economic transition to renewable energy while continuing to feed its people and keep the, uh, lights on, will be a huge guidepost for the rest of us. And as we report, will be heavily impacted by how it steers through the complex geopolitical relations it has with the U.S., Russia and China.
We hope you enjoy the report and we look forward to bringing you more as the climate finance transition develops. In the meantime, readers of Callaway Climate Insights can sign up for Lou’s free newsletter here.
More insights below . . . .
We will be off next week, returning to your inboxes on Monday, Sept. 26.
Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
Follow us . . . .
Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Special Report
Top five risks faced by the U.S. and India ahead of COP27 in Egypt

. . . . As nations prepare for the United Nations annual climate summit, this year called COP27 and held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, geopolitical tensions between the world’s three largest polluters — the U.S., India and China — are threatening to impede progress just as global warming begins to really bite. In our special report, we look at the biggest challenges faced by two of these countries, the U.S. and India, as they try to expand the climate transition during the worst energy crisis in decades. . . .
Health + Wealth of Our Planet
Techonomy and Worth join together the Health + Wealth of Our Planet conference on Sept. 20 at City Winery NYC, focused on climate tech, conscious consumption, geopolitics, business strategy, and much more.
As a member of the Callaway Climate Insights community, you can register for $199 (normally $299). This exclusive deal includes breakfast, lunch, and access to all sessions. We’re bringing together stellar speakers including Seth Godin, editor of the just-published The Carbon Almanac: It’s Not Too Late; Eileen Fisher, founder of Eileen Fisher Inc. and many more.
Greenwashing 2.0, a new way to earn green stripes

. . . . Greenwashing comes in many forms, but what’s similar about each of the cases is the apparent lack of effort by everyone involved in policing what looks like a vast conspiracy of apathy, writes Mark Hulbert. Using the curious case of the Michelin tire company and a carbon offset claim from a few years ago, Hulbert shows how even some of the most egregious forms of the new corporate promotion art go unnoticed and unattended.
A selection of this week’s subscriber-only insights
. . . . We are seeing more car manufacturers enabling their EVs to put stored power back into the grid. The latest is Nissan, with its Leaf. And now other vehicle-to-grid initiatives are getting off the ground, the latest being in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Revel, which operates a fleet of 200 ride-sharing electric vehicles in New York City, will allow its cars to give back when they are not being driven. Read more. . . .
. . . . It turns out that women are much more in favor of taking steps to battle climate change than men. Many women are also mighty angry about the abortion decision and are registering to vote in large numbers. Could the two trends lead to bigger efforts on climate action? Read more. . . .
. . . . Now the U.S. government has said what environmentalists have been saying for a long time — the crypto mining for alternative currencies such as bitcoin are contributing mightily to climate change. Will there be regulations? Read more. . . .
Editor’s picks: Megadrought in the Grand Canyon
Watch the video: The decades-long megadrought in the West is taking a toll on the Grand Canyon, shrinking the Colorado River by 20% and impacting fishing and farming industries. NBC News’ Steve Patterson explains how the canyon’s problems will affect nearly 40 million people living in the region.
Hydrogen tax credits could help nuclear operators
Energy industry analysts say that nuclear plant owners who are eligible for a tax credit as part of the Biden Administration’s climate package could receive additional benefits by supplying electricity to hydrogen producers. So notes Allison Good in a post for S&P Global Market Intelligence. Good cites a Morgan Stanley report that says Constellation Energy Corp. CEG 0.00%↑ , which has a nuclear generation fleet of more than 21,600 MW, would, in particular, benefit from unlocking “new potential opportunities for merchant nuclear plants and attractive returns for hydrogen facilities.” According to Good, “dedicating 5% of that nuclear capacity, about 1,000 MW, to clean hydrogen production would increase annual EBITDA by $300 million to $350 million, which would account for 10% of Constellation’s total EBITDA, according to Morgan Stanley, and ‘could crystallize in the 2026 time frame,’ with the potential for some contributions in 2025.”
Save more money on EVs and energy fixes
Thinking about a new EV and a related tax break, but are confused by all the new requirements about where they’re assembled and what’s in the battery? You’re not alone. The White House has launched a new website — Clean Energy For All — designed to help consumers understand the new green energy tax credits contained in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Among the information on the new site, Americans can find details on tax credits and rebates related to electric vehicles, as well as home weatherization and efficiency upgrades, installing new electric appliances, and putting in a rooftop solar system.
Latest findings: New research, studies and projects
Does better ESG performance lower credit risk?
In recent years, many economies have launched ESG bonds to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development and combat the challenges of climate change, say the authors of research titled Does Better ESG Performance Lower Credit Risk? A Sovereign Credit Perspective. Against this backdrop, this study examines how ESG factors have affected sovereign credit risk over time and across economies. From the abstract: The authors write, “We find that investors have generally factored in ESG performance and the development of ESG debt market in pricing sovereign credit risk since the mid-2010s. On comparing emerging market economies (EMEs) with advanced economies (AEs), the still shallow ESG debt market in EMEs has yet to exert material effect on their sovereign credit risks, and investors tend to disregard environmental factors when pricing EMEs’ sovereign credit risk, probably as a sacrifice to economic development. As such, policymakers need to continue to support the ESG-related developments especially in EMEs, for example, by strengthening international cooperation to improve the environmental performance of EMEs, e.g. fostering technology transfer.” Authors: Edmund Ho Cheung Ho, Hong Kong Monetary Authority; Dick Sze Ngai Yu, Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
More of the latest research:

Words to live by . . . .
“I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakistan. As our planet continues to warm, all countries will increasingly suffer losses and damage from climate beyond their capacity to adapt. This is a global crisis. It demands a global response.” — UN Secretary-General António Guterres.