Busting Through the Greatest Myths in Green Investing

 

Tesla has been kicked out of S&P Dow Jones' S&P 500 ESG index. The index maker cited issues including racial discrimination claims and crashes linked to Tesla's autopilot vehicles for removing the EV maker from its widely-followed benchmark index. CEO Elon Musk criticized the move, on Twitter of course. Still, S&P said Tesla's lack of published details related to its low carbon strategy or its business conduct codes contributed to its removal. investopedia.com

Australia voted in a new government that has vowed to end decades of inaction on climate change by one of the world's highest per capita emitters. Anthony Albanese was elected as the country's new prime minister. The 59-year-old is described as a center-left politician who leads the Australian Labor Party, which is set to form its first government in roughly a decade after picking up seats in Parliament. Albanese takes over for Scott Morrison, who is frequently criticized for failing to take stronger steps to curb Australia's carbon emissions. Albanese is seeking to push the climate change agenda by committing to reduce carbon emissions in the country by 43% by the year 2030, with an aim for net zero emissions by the year 2050.

Meanwhile, China tripled its investment in solar power projects in the first four months of the year, putting the nation on track to install record amounts of new clean energy capacity in 2022 According to China's National Energy Administration, investment in solar was 29 billion yuan, or $4.3 billion from January through April, which is about 204% higher than in the same period a year earlier. That compares to 51.3 billion won invested in solar in the first 11 months of last year. China already has the world's largest fleet of renewables and is rapidly accelerating investments in solar and wind projects as it aims to build a larger and more flexible grid to meet goals to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and zero them out by 2060 or earlier.

WeWork founder and former CEO Adam Neumann has resurfaced and he's putting some of his money to work on carbon credit trading. Flow Carbon, a blockchain-enabled carbon credit trading platform backed by Neumann, has raised $70 million in its first major funding round, according to Reuters. The company aims to tap into the growing market for carbon credits companies purchase in order to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. The carbon credit market has drawn criticism for being fractured, opaque, difficult to access and quality control issues. Flow Carbon is trying to solve these problems by letting project developers sell their carbon credits through digital tokens, stored and traded using blockchain technology, allowing them to access cheaper funding and scale their projects more quickly. We're going to keep an eye on that space. 

Malik Sievers is the Head of ESG Strategy supporting Schwab Asset Management Solutions (SAMS). He is responsible for the organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) business and product strategy. Sievers has extensive experience in multiple positions throughout his career. Prior to his current role, Sievers worked as senior investment portfolio strategist and managing director of strategy for Schwab Asset Management. Prior to joining Schwab in 2011, Sievers served as a managing principal for Farr Investments, a trading advisory firm, and spent several years as a consultant for McKinsey and Company along with a role as an equity analyst at Prudential Financial.