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In every major financial capital right now, new analysis is frantically being done by hedge funds and large investors on climate risk. From the growing market in catastrophe bonds to insurers passing off risk to investors on storms and extreme heat, betting on or against global warming is, um, hot.
Yet even as weather events become more dramatic, El Nino threatens a destructive winter and companies furiously strive to measure their risk, governments that purport to regulate markets for investors are backing away from demanding the climate information from these companies that investors can use.
The UK became the latest this week to abandon strict climate risk reporting, turning its back on mandatory reporting rules proposed earlier this year in favor of some twisted honor system among publicly listed companies — the same companies arguing against disclosure.