Each year, the global climate crisis becomes more severe. The year 2023 was the hottest on record, and 2024 is on track to claim that title by year end. Despite growing awareness of the scale of the crisis, politicians are no closer to finding a way out of it. Fortunately, the world of capitalist finance has a solution: an eco-chic, corporate buzzword called “ESG” – short for “Environmental, Social, and Governance.” Through ESG, asset managers and hedge funds promise that we can invest our way out of the climate crisis.
However, ESG hasn’t been having the easiest time. It’s come under criticism, not only from the left, but from investors themselves, as a glorified form of greenwashing. Meanwhile, right-wing culture warriors have gone after ESG as “woke investing.” Pro-ESG investors may have to wait for their next windfall. ESG funds had their worst quarter at…
