Climate finance hawks have an honesty problem

On Tuesday, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in what is likely to be the last presidential debate of this cycle.  Climate hawks were understandably dismayed by the miniscule amount of time spent on the health of the planet during the 90-minute plus jabberfest, with the topic meriting just a single question in the last 10 minutes.

This may reflect, as debate hosts ABC News claim, how climate is not at the center of this election.  Other pressing topics – inflation, immigration, and abortion – have taken the limelight.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that climate change is disappearing as a political issue.  And here at Unpacking Climate Risk, we’re pretty convinced that the climate-financial nexus will continue to be a political touchstone for years to come.  

Just last week, Bloomberg reported on Morgan Stanley’s retreat from a financing goal targeted at plastic pollution – part of a broader rollback of sustainability commitments across Wall Street. It’s a development that’s angered climate hawks and may set off another round of shareholder actions and protests in the months to come. I sincerely doubt the financial industry’s (hopefully temporary) retreat from sustainability will end this particular political tug-of-war.