The U.S. isn’t doing enough to combat climate change, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney charged on day two of the World Economic Forum in Davos while President Donald Trump used an impromptu news conference to blast the impeachment “hoax.”
“Something which was largely on the periphery of finance has come into the mainstream,” Carney told Bloomberg. “Transition risk has become more important.”
Trump ignored climate risk — the top issue at the conference — for a second day. In a speech Tuesday, he focused on economic and trade policies, criticizing what he called the “perennial prophets of doom.” Wednesday, he touted his administration’s approach to the economy and elimination of taxes and regulations while also attacking the impeachment proceedings in Congress.
“Climate change is becoming an investment risk.”
Meanwhile, the world’s largest hedge funds advocated publicly for reducing greenhouse gases. British billionaire Chris Hohn, whose fund has $30 billion in assets, said he’ll oust boards or dump shares of companies in his portfolio who don’t work to actively cut emissions and disclose their carbon footprint. BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink, who said earlier this month that the world’s largest asset manager would put sustainability at the center of its business, used the forum to tout the change.
“Climate change is becoming an investment risk,” he said. “Clients worldwide have been asking me repeatedly about how they should frame a portfolio with climate-change considerations. It was very clear to me that this is becoming a dominant theme with more of our investors.”
- Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser advised Trump to engage with young climate activists in a conversation with the president Tuesday evening, he told Reuters.
- At a closed-door meeting in Davos, the leaders of some of the world’s biggest oil companies discussed adopting more ambitious carbon targets as pressure on them increases, Bloomberg reported.
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his British counterpart Sajid Javid publicly clashed over how Europe taxes the world’s biggest technology firms. Javid said the U.K. would move forward with plans to tax digital services in April, while Mnuchin said the move could generate “arbitrary” retaliation.
- Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence is “one of the most profound things we’re working on as humanity. It’s more profound than fire or electricity.” Alphabet is the owner of Google.
