Companies have been promising for years to come clean about their exposure to climate risk. But 2020 may prove to be the moment that investors finally force them to do it. That, in turn, will put the onus on auditors to step up and challenge the way managers assess — or obfuscate — the impact of decarbonisation on financial accounts. As things stand, many big investors fear that companies in energy-intensive industries are failing to recognise the potential hit to asset values posed by climate risk. Some utilities may be failing to depreciate thermal power plants quickly enough, given that many might need to be scrapped to help meet the 2015 Paris agreement target to keep global warming well below 2 degrees centigrade.
FT 8th Jan 2020 read more »
America’s oil companies are trying to rebrand themselves as part of the solution to the climate crisis, launching a campaign to counter top Democrats’ proposals to rapidly cut pollution from the power plants and cars that run on the industry’s petroleum and natural gas. They say natural gas – a fossil fuel that emits heat-trapping carbon dioxide – is helping to slow climate disruption by providing an alternative to coal.
Guardian 8th Jan 2020 read more »