Interesting developments this week around Climate Change (NYT and BBC)
First, an activist hedge fund has successfully waged a proxy contest to elect climate activists to Exxon’s board. We have long said that despite hedge funds’ typically “short-termist” orientation, that skills in investor activism could be applied in a constructive way to sustainability.
For the first time a court of justice has ordered emissions reductions; a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to reduce emissions by 2030, 45% below 2019 levels.
Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, is a director with Private Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co. and executive-in-residence and co-director of the Marquette S-Lab. He is also founder and chair of the board of Water + Energy Forward, a green bank focused on market-based climate solutions. He holds a PhD in investment governance and fiduciary effectiveness from Marquette University, where he has taught “Sustainable Finance” since 2009. He publishes Sustainable Finance and is co-author of The Trustee Governance Guide: The Five Imperatives of 21st Century Investing.
