{"id":1124,"date":"2021-04-11T14:54:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T14:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eos.co.id\/main\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2021-04-11T14:54:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T14:54:35","slug":"financial-world-greenwashing-the-public-with-deadly-distraction-in-sustainable-investing-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eos.co.id\/main\/uncategorized\/financial-world-greenwashing-the-public-with-deadly-distraction-in-sustainable-investing-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial world greenwashing the public with deadly distraction in sustainable investing practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source >>><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street is greenwashing the financial world, making sustainable investing merely PR, which is a distraction from the problem of climate change.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tariq FancyOpinion contributor<\/a><\/a><\/a>AD0:02SKIPhttps:\/\/imasdk.googleapis.com\/js\/core\/bridge3.450.0_en.html#goog_199526836about:blankhttps:\/\/imasdk.googleapis.com\/js\/core\/bridge3.450.0_en.html#goog_1214560080<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The financial services industry is duping the American public with its pro-environment, sustainable investing practices. This multitrillion dollar arena of socially conscious investing is being presented as something it’s not. In essence, Wall Street is greenwashing the economic system and, in the process, creating a deadly distraction. I should know; I was at the heart of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the former chief investment officer of Sustainable Investing<\/a> at BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world with $8.7 trillion in assets<\/a>, I led the charge<\/a> to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) into our global investments. In fact, our messaging helped mainstream the concept that pursuing social good was also good for the bottom line. Sadly, that’s all it is, a hopeful idea. In truth, sustainable investing boils down to little more than marketing hype, PR spin and disingenuous promises from the investment community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC looking to ‘proactively identify ESG-related misconduct’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In many instances across the industry, existing mutual funds are cynically rebranded as \u201cgreen\u201d \u2014 with no discernible change to the fund itself or its underlying strategies \u2014 simply for the sake of appearances and marketing purposes<\/a>. In other cases<\/a>, ESG products contain irresponsible companies such as petroleum majors and other large polluters like \u201cfast fashion\u201d manufacturing to boost the fund’s performance. There are even portfolio managers who actively mine ESG data to bet against environmentally responsible companies in the name of profit, a short-selling strategy. Risk managers are focused on protecting their investment portfolios from potential damages done by a worsening climate rather than helping prevent that damage from occurring in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As disheartening as this reality is, claiming to be environmentally responsible is profitable. Last year alone, ESG mutual funds and exchange-traded funds nearly doubled<\/a>. The investment community understandably reacted to this with cheers. But those cheers were only for fund managers and their bottom lines. No matter what they tout as green investing, portfolio managers are legally bound (as well as financially incentivized) to do nothing that compromises profits<\/a>. To advance real change in the environment simply doesn’t yield the same return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wall<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In early March, my sentiments were echoed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which announced it was creating a Climate and ESG Task Force<\/a> to \u201cproactively identify ESG-related misconduct\u201d such as inaccurate or incomplete disclosures by funds and companies \u2014 an unprecedented move that suggests there might be abuses that have gone unaddressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to learn some painful lessons. The initial response of rosy forecasts, loose half-measures and group denial boosted morale, but it also lulled the public into a false sense of security that prolonged and worsened the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to fix the system before disaster strikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While how we fight a pandemic and climate change are very different, one aspect is clear. Both threats can only be won through the combined efforts of science and policy. In response to the pandemic, we\u2019ve learned that only top-down government action, such as forcing the closure of high-risk venues and mandating masks indoors, makes a real difference. A \u201cfree market\u201d will not correct itself or fix the problem by its own accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine the planet is a cancer patient, and climate change is the cancer. Wall Street is prescribing wheatgrass: A well-marketed, profitable idea that has no chance of curing or even slowing down the cancer. In this scenario, wheatgrass is the deadly distraction, misleading the public and delaying lifesaving measures like chemotherapy. But like giving false hope to unproven cures in the midst of a pandemic, the consequences of such irresponsibility are all too obvious. And motivation for why the industry continues to greenwash is all too obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID:<\/strong>Support frontline COVID troops. Even as restrictions lift, say yes to masks, vaccines and unity.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I left the industry in late 2019, due to family business obligations following the passing of my father-in-law, I was frustrated by the lack of any real change. But I took some comfort in believing that if we weren\u2019t doing as much as we could, at least we weren\u2019t doing any harm. Since my departure, I have had a lot of time to think about this issue, and I\u2019ve reassessed my opinion. I believe we are doing irreversible harm by stalling and greenwashing. And all in the name of profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re running out of time and need to accept the truth: To fix our system and curb a growing disaster, we need government to fix the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tariq Fancy is the former chief investment officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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