Guest “you can’t actually vote on the Laws of Physics” by David Middleton

99% vote of support sees Barclays adopt climate resolution to be net-zero

Hope William-Smith
11 May 2020

A total 99% of voters at Barclays 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) have voted in support of a climate resolution following continued pressure from shareholders and the industry to lower investments in fossil fuels.

Shareholders at the AGM – held virtually from London on 7 May – voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution to see Barclays become net-zero by 2050.

In a statement to shareholders, chairman Nigel Higgins said Barclays “should play a leading role” in tackling climate change and “preservation of our external environment”.

Higgins said: “This [resolution] commits the group to a strategy with targets for alignment of its entire financing portfolio to the goals of the Paris Agreement…

[blah, blah, blah]

Professional Pensions

This photo accompanied the article…

What’s that? The article doesn’t say that Barclay’s shareholders voted for a permanent COVID-19 economy… Well, yes they did and they also voted for spending winters freezing in the dark.

The COVID-19 Economy and a Taste of ‘Net Zero’

By ANDREW STUTTAFORD
May 7, 2020

From a BBC report on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on CO₂ emissions:

To keep the world on track to stay under 1.5C this century, the world needs similar cuts for the foreseeable future to keep this target in view.

“If Covid-19 leads to a drop in emissions of around 5% in 2020, then that is the sort of reduction we need every year until net-zero emissions are reached around 2050,” said Glen Peters… from Cicero.

[Cicero is the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research]

1.5C is the target that emerged from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

[…]

If something akin to the COVID-19 economy for decades is what you want, going for ‘net zero’ by 2050 may be a way to achieve it.

[…]

National Review

In related news… US banks that discriminate against fossil fuel companies may wind up being barred from participating in “participating in federally guaranteed loan programs laid out in the CARES Act, such as the Paycheck Protection Program or the trillion dollar Federal Reserve facility lending programs.”

MAY 8, 2020 / 2:51 PM / 5 DAYS AGO
Republicans urge Trump to bar banks from shunning fossil fuel loans
Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of Republican lawmakers from energy-producing states on Friday called on President Donald Trump to prevent banks from halting loans and investments with companies that produce oil and other fossil fuels while they have access to federal assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Wall Street’s big banks … should not be able to reap the benefits of participating in federally guaranteed loan programs laid out in the CARES Act, such as the Paycheck Protection Program or the trillion dollar Federal Reserve facility lending programs, while simultaneously targeting American energy companies and workers,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump.

[…]

The Republican lawmakers, led by Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Representatives Don Young of Alaska and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, accused some major U.S. financial institutions of halting fossil fuel investments to “placate the environmental fringe.” They specifically cited BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager, which has been given a central role in the COVID-19 corporate recovery as a fiduciary to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

[…]

“Considering BlackRock’s central role as a Federal Reserve fiduciary for the distribution of CARES Act credit facilities, its hostility towards the American energy sector is unacceptable and should be closely scrutinized,” the lawmakers wrote.

[…]

Reuters

Politics
Lawmakers Urge Punishment For Banks That Won’t Back Drillers
By Jennifer A Dlouhy
May 8, 2020

Three dozen lawmakers are pushing the Trump administration to get tough on banks and asset managers that restrict financing for oil drilling and coal mining, arguing they are “discriminating against America’s energy sector” and it “must be confronted.”

In a letter released Friday, the lawmakers told President Donald Trump that he should punish those lenders by blocking them from participating in federally guaranteed loan programs created in response to the coronavirus, including the Paycheck Protection Program.

[…]

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York already said in a “frequently asked questions” document that the central bank will provide investment guidelines for coronavirus-spurred corporate credit facilities, rather than allowing investment managers to apply their own, internal guidelines.

The lawmakers put other lenders on notice, distributing copies of their letter to chief executives of Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America Corp.

Bloomberg