The carbon capture catch-22; gender inequality comes with a price tag

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After four years of the U.S. taking a back seat on international climate talks, the Biden administration is moving to restore the nation's role in leading the decarbonization transition, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said this week. Now that the U.S. has officially rejoined the Paris agreement, Kerry said he is looking to restore an alliance with China on climate issues, and he has also met with major financial institutions about ways to fund the trillions of dollars in investments that will be needed.

"I've been working with major investment houses and asset managers in our country to try to determine how much private sector capital can be directed in the right place here so that we can make this transition faster," Kerry said March 2 at the CERAWeek conference by IHS Markit.

In this week's newsletter, we examine how climate change and the clean energy transition were key themes discussed at CERAWeek, one of the year's biggest oil and gas sector-focused events. Kerry at the event observed that not all oil and gas companies are embracing the shift away from carbon-intensive products, which he said could lead to some companies "sitting there with a lot of stranded assets" in the future. At the same time, he added, "many, many companies are dealing with ESG as well as [Sustainable Development Goal] commitments and in addition are now finding that it's very attractive to focus on a directly climate-related type of investment" — further evidence that the transition is accelerating, Kerry said.

Also at CERAWeek, we heard the acting chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission explain why the current voluntary climate disclosure regime in the U.S. is not working, and the U.S. oil sector's top lobbying arm said it is considering endorsing a price on carbon emissions for the first time.

IHS Markit is subject to a merger with S&P Global pending regulatory and other customary approvals.

Top stories

Carbon capture tech is viable, but US lacks policy to deploy it – experts

Carbon capture and sequestration technology has developed to the point that the energy sector could use it to decarbonize, but the technology would need the additional federal support that other low-emissions systems have received to achieve widescale deployment, energy experts said in panel discussions during CERAWeek. For now, the U.S. lacks adequate policy frameworks and economic incentives to spur further development and deployment of technology to capture, utilize and store emitted carbon dioxide.

House Dems' bill targets clean power by 2035 with big grid, generation changes

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced an updated version of a broad climate action bill that would put the U.S. on a path to 100% clean electricity generation by 2035, mirroring President Joe Biden's timeline for achieving an emissions-free power sector. The nearly 1,000-page bill also includes provisions that would promote transmission development, require public utilities to place their transmission facilities under the control of a regional grid operator within two years, and compel public companies to disclose information about their exposure to climate-related risks. But gaining Republican report for the bill looks to be an uphill battle.

Lack of gender equality laws bring economic cost, heightened by pandemic

Governments need to enact reforms ensuring gender equality is a priority in their coronavirus recovery plans, and a lack of gender equality in laws and regulations worldwide comes at a cost for the economy generally, according to a new report by the World Bank. Women are over-represented in sectors most heavily hit by the pandemic, further exacerbating inequalities, according to the latest S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment — see our Chart of the Week.

Chart of the week

Environmental

Biden administration reverts to Obama-era social cost of carbon, plus inflation

American Petroleum Institute weighs embracing carbon emissions price

Banks provided 11% more money to coal-related companies since 2016 – report

Social

Public racial tensions, COVID-19 prompted Southern to amp up social focus

Gensler signals SEC may consider political spending, climate risk disclosures

Biden signals support of union efforts among Amazon workers in Alabama

Governance

Industry, organizations back framework to decarbonize heavy industry

SEC acting head explains why voluntary ESG disclosure regime is not enough

Russian banks face conundrum of 'dirty' borrowers as embrace of ESG tightens

ESG indices

Upcoming events

The post pandemic ESG investing landscape: opportunities, challenges, solutions
Responsible Investor
March 16
Online

Sustainability Week
The Economist
March 22-25
Online

Impact Investing World Forum 2021
Impact Investing World Forum
March 22-23
Online

GreenFin 21
GreenBiz
April 13-14
Online

PRI in Person
PRI
Sept. 14-16
Tokyo

The European SDG Summit 2021
CSR Europe
Oct. 11-14
Online

COP26
United Nations Climate Change Conference
Nov. 1-12
Glasgow

Questions or suggestions? Contact S&P Global Market Intelligence's ESG News team at ESGNews@spglobal.com.