Over the past six years, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has captured the imagination and money of investors and corporate executives. More recently, however, its influence has been weakening. While the underlying rationale for ESG is sound – companies and investors should be mindful of larger societal principles – its execution has been so overzealous that it eventually generated investor and corporate blowback. Glencore’s recent decision, after consulting shareholders, to retain its coal assets is the latest evidence that uncompromising and counterproductive ESG attacks on fossil fuels are peaking and that shareholders and corporate managers can support realistic and economically sound decarbonization and energy transition strategies.
Read Full Article »
