Glencore Recommitment to Coal Deals a Major Blow to ESG, Energy Transition

GLENCORE XSTRATA ULAN WEST COAL MINE - NLT Digital

The ESG investing movement took another big hit Thursday when mining giant Glencore said it would cancel plans for a spinoff of its coal business. The change in direction came after the company’s senior management posed the question to investors and were advised by an astonishing 95% of them to continue to exploit coal resources as part of its core business.

Glencore’s news was the latest in a series of announcements over the past year indicating a fading commitment by corporate giants and big investment houses alike to the ESG “sustainable investment” dogma. Cracks had been forming in the movement for months before BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told an audience at the June, 2023 Aspen Ideals Festival he had committed to stop using the ESG term in his internal communications.

As reported by Axios, Fink first said he was “ashamed of being part of this conversation,” referring to ESG investing. But, when pressed by a moderator, he later backed off, saying, “I never said I was ashamed,” even though he had just used that very word. “I’m not ashamed. I do believe in conscientious capitalism. I’m not going to use the word ESG because it’s been misused by the far left and the far right.”