Hot Portfolios, Dropping Pennies

After the warmest European winter on record, in which Russia and Sweden had to import snow for sporting events and even the mainland suffered flooding, an influential group of investors has given all UK-listed companies a further three years to consider how they will claim to be coping with the climate crisis. As the likely effects of global heating have been known for some thirty years, and the response so far has been mostly buck-passing with a thin coat of green-washing, it is arguable that the Investment Association has been a little slow on the uptake. Certainly no investor should be expected to take an interest in those profits which, besides being inadequately monitored, are actively accelerating the crisis. To its credit, however, the group has recognised that the possible collapse of civilisation and extinction of the species may ultimately hit savers' pockets if not subject to appropriate fiscal supervision.