Why John Podesta was Biden's only choice for Kerry's climate role
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John Podesta is the perfect political pick to replace John Kerry as President Biden’s top climate advisor in an election year. For U.S. climate leadership, not so much.
Podesta, 75, ticks all the Biden Administration’s insider boxes. He’s had years of climate negotiating experience, including the Paris Accords of 2015 and early agreements with China. He’s well-respected by the president and his cabinet. And he’s already inside the White House, so with a tweak of his new title to climate advisor from climate envoy, everybody avoids a messy climate confirmation process in the Senate as climate has become an election issue.
It all makes perfect sense if you’re a Democratic election strategist. If you’re a climate advocate, especially in another country looking to the U.S. for climate leadership, Podesta has the overwhelming look of a short-timer who has taken on an extra job in a time of crisis.
Much like the corporate counsel who is asked to take on the chief sustainability officer role so a board can sign off on its climate commitments without raising payroll, Podesta won’t be expected to do much this year except keep pushing the Inflation Reduction Act execution and making a few trips to China and India. The COP29 conference in Azerbaijan is after the election this year, so he will either be a lame duck by then or a hero without portfolio.
Unfortunately, the reality of electoral politics prevents the U.S. — and so many other countries, particularly in Europe this year — from naming scientific and corporate stars to these climate roles who will really command progress. Podesta is the best candidate the Biden team could possibly hope for, but the entire process simply kicks the can on climate achievement past the election, if at all. . . .
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Investing in clean and dirty firms
The authors of this paper titled, Green Capital Requirements, ESG Rating Uncertainty, and Greenwashing, propose a model where a bank regulator sets green capital requirements based on their belief regarding the proportion of investments in clean and dirty firms. They analyze the effects of green- and brown-washing on banks’ lending to firms, the regulator’s deposit insurance subsidy, and carbon emissions under different capital requirement functions. From the abstract: “We consider the implications of large jumps in ESG ratings and show that, in this situation, green capital requirements may compromise financial stability. Greenwashing can disproportionately reinforce this effect.” Authors: Oliver Janke, University of Leipzig - Faculty of Economics and Management Science; and Gregor N. F. Weiss, University of Leipzig - Faculty of Economics and Management Science.
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Words to live by . . . .
“The last half year has truly been shocking. Scientists are running out of adjectives to describe this.” — Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess, speaking at COP28.