2022 Pitchbook Sustainable Investment Survey shows politicization of ESG
(Pitchbook) This summer, we surveyed more than 500 LPs, GPs and service providers about their sustainable investment practices, gathering information on the motivations, metrics and challenges of a field that is receiving more and more attention. Our 2022 Sustainable Investment Survey illuminates the drivers behind investment decisions, breaking down data by region and respondent type.…
Read More‘Always check the label’: ESG funds not as green as they seem – study
(Reuters) One in seven funds branded as sustainable has a carbon emissions intensity higher than the average across all investment funds, and no climate-labelled fund has a portfolio fully aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal, a study showed on Tuesday. The analysis, conducted by sustainability data and technology platform ESG Book, is the latest to…
Read MoreAI Data Laundering: How Academic and Nonprofit Researchers Shield Tech Companies from Accountability
(Waxy) The academic researchers who compiled the Shutterstock dataset acknowledged the copyright implications in their paper, writing, “The use of data collected for this study is authorised via the Intellectual Property Office’s Exceptions to Copyright for Non-Commercial Research and Private Study.” But then Meta is using those academic non-commercial datasets to train a model, presumably…
Read MoreThis Climate Tech Boom Is Recession-Proof
(Bloomberg) Is a global economic recession imminent? That question has been giving many people watching markets sleepless nights. One group, however, seems less worried: climate tech investors. Typically recessions see investors fleeing to safer assets like government bonds and mature companies. And they start investing less in or even divesting from riskier assets, such as venture…
Read MoreSilicon Valley Slides Back Into ‘Bro’ Culture
(NYT) Last month, Mark Zuckerberg spent hours touting his love of jiujitsu, wrestling and UFC on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which is known for its hypermasculinity. Watching TV was not active enough, Mr. Zuckerberg said. Compared with social media, TV was “beta.” Elon Musk, who signed a deal to buy Twitter seemingly on a whim and is now…
Read MoreU.S. lets tech firms boost internet access in Iran following a crackdown on protesters
(NPR) The Treasury Department said Friday it was allowing American tech firms to expand their business in Iran, one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, to boost internet access for the Iranian people. The Iranian government cut most internet access for its 80 million citizens during a crackdown on demonstrators protesting the death of…
Read MoreJan. 6 Twitter witness: Failure to curb Trump spurred ‘terrifying’ choice
(The Washington Post) In an explosive hearing in July, an unidentified former Twitter employee testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that the company had tolerated false and rule-breaking tweets from Donald Trump for years because executives knew their service was his “favorite and most-used … and enjoyed having that sort of power.” Now, in…
Read MoreCutting health care’s carbon footprint
(Axios) Health systems are increasingly responding to the threat of climate change with commitments to cut back their own carbon footprint. Why it matters: Health care is a massive global industry, and shrinking its carbon footprint could go a long way toward reducing carbon emissions. Read more here
Read MoreEU’s green rulebook loses a bit more credibility as NGOs quit
(Business Times) A group of non-governmental organisations that had been involved in writing the EU’s green taxonomy has walked out in protest. They accuse the EU bodies steering the taxonomy of politicising the process instead of basing decisions on science, according to a statement on Wednesday (Sep 14). As a result, 5 nonprofits have announced…
Read MoreThe one ESG issue that Americans agree isn’t politically polarizing
(CNBC) A potential rail strike that was on the verge of upending the U.S. economy may have caught your attention in the headlines this week. It was averted on Thursday, but underlying the battle between rail carriers and labor unions over wages and quality of life policies for workers is an issue over which the American…
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