Why global climate clubs were never going to save the world

Plus, why Stellantis defies the EV slowdown

In today’s edition:

— As Climate Action 100+ defections mount, Wall Street weighs a new direction on sustainable investing

— Stellantis is going full speed ahead with EVs, in Europe at least

— Zombie fires in Canada lay in wait beneath the snow

— California allocates more than $1 billion to hydrogen heavy duty transportation

— What’s the over/under bet on three trillion trees? And which country has the most?

Visitors stand at the edge of Lake Manly, winter 2024. Photo: lakemanly.org.

Ghost lake: An ancient lake has reemerged at Death Valley National Park’s Badwater Basin, thanks to extraordinarily heavy (for Death Valley) rainfall. As of last week, the temporary Lake Manly was about 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and a foot deep.

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Defections from Climate Action 100+ mounted over the long weekend, with PIMCO and BlackRock BLK 0.00%↑ joining JP Morgan JPM 0.00%↑ and State Street in dumping the elite climate club founded in Paris seven years ago.

The organization said many more firms continue to sign up than leave, but the loss of major firms like this — just as the group wanted to move to a more active stance to force reductions in global emissions — is telling.

Sure, the political pressure on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has swept the globe in the past two years, as right-wing politicians paint it as a woke threat to energy security in an oil-obsessed world. But the departure of Wall Street’s big firms underscores a more basic reality about elite clubs such as Climate Action 100+ and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).

The globalist mindset that elite financiers and government leaders could fix the existential problem of climate change by imposing their will on the rest of the world was always destined to die on populist vines. If anything, the formation of these clubs engendered more animosity from those on the outside, particularly fossil fuel companies and the politicians (and voters) who support them.

Climate change is a challenge that needs to be fought at the grassroots level, with financial firms backing innovative entrepreneurial ideas to reduce emissions and prepare for more calamities like we are seeing in California this week. The big firms pulling out say they prefer their own sustainable paths. We will know shortly whether they are telling the truth, or whether the whole club thing was just another empty marketing gesture to begin with . . . .

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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Tuesday’s subscriber-only insights

Stellantis previewed the Chrysler Airflow concept about two years ago. Chrysler’s production EV SUV is due out in 2025. Photo: Chrysler.

For the Big Three U.S. automakers, two are braking on EVs while the other accelerates