LETTER: Climate far from centre stage

South Africa News News

LETTER: Climate far from centre stage
South Africa Latest News,South Africa Headlines
  • 📰 BDliveSA
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 59 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 27%
  • Publisher: 63%

'Exposure to climate change risk' is not a green issue, it is a financial issue

The suggestion that recent annual general meeting resolutions are “an indication that green issues are increasingly taking centre stage” errs on two important counts .

First, “exposure to climate change risk” is not a green issue, it is a financial issue: the risks of failed investments or stranded assets exist regardless of shareholder concern for the environment, and the scale of the risk increases with the cumulative effects of greenhouse gasses. That climate change is not recognised as an economic issue is a big part of the problem.

Second, this refusal to assess and report on exposure to this economic risk shows that climate-change response is nowhere near centre stage. Refusal on the grounds that a year is not long enough to undertake an initial assessment is pathetic, and to then claim that FirstRand is “seized with the issue” indicates that chair Roger Jardine and his board dismally fail to understand it.

Promising a policy on fossil fuel lending is but a sop, particularly if it is developed without assessment of the carbon consequences of existing investment. Precedent suggests this will only rule out the most egregiously polluting technologies, providing no real constraint on emissions growth. Far from good progress, such prevarication and deflection is no better than denial.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

BDliveSA /  🏆 12. in ZA

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

LETTER: Blind, failed socialismDespite its myriad failures the ANC is bent on an all-encompassing NHI
Read more »

King Coal defies his energy planKing Coal defies his energy planGwede Mantashe needs to shift from costly, climate crisis-inducing fossil fuels to renewables
Read more »

Black Friday backlash against Amazon and excess in FranceActivists staged protests denouncing rampant consumerism and ‘the social, environmental and fiscal damage’ Amazon helps create
Read more »

LETTER: Blind, failed socialismDespite its myriad failures the ANC is bent on an all-encompassing NHI
Read more »

Sasol will disclose its plans to do less harm to environment next yearBut CEO Fleetwood Grobler and chair Mandla Gantsho stress that while Sasol acknowledges its effect on climate change, its actions needed to be balanced with SA’s unemployment levels
Read more »



Render Time: 2025-02-18 20:16:59