Zevin Asset Management President Sonia Kowal and Director of Sustainable Investing Marcela Pinilla break down the investor response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
The Investor Response to the Russian War in Ukraine
As another needless war unfolds, it’s important to consider how investors have enabled Putin over the years and the lessons to be learned from burying one’s head in the sand.
His invasion of Georgia in 2008 and then of Crimea in 2014 should have been early warning signs for asset owners and managers. Yet many responded with yawns and shrugs over the years, prioritizing profit over values by choosing to stay invested. I understand this more than most, as an ex-Russian equity analyst who saw up close the potential for making gobs of money by investing in Russian-owned businesses. On Feb. 24, when Putin invaded Ukraine again, those that remained invested had no excuse.
Top Tier Impact: Interview With Sonia Kowal
Bloomberg: The Two Wall Street Liberals Behind ESG's $35 Trillion Explosion
You can learn more by watching the first episode in the series here.
Net Zero Cannot Be a Net Disappointment: The Social Cost of Carbon Offsets
When oil companies announce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals but provide no details on how they plan to reduce that in the short term or whether their largest source of emissions — in this case, emissions from the use of products of oil and gas — is included, it’s clear that the term “net zero” can be co-opted. While the growth in corporate net-zero targets is an important signal of increased ambition to fight climate change and is required to move us towards warming below 1.5 degrees C, there is little ability to keep companies accountable to these goals.