Climate Action 100+ -in English Climate Action 100+— is a conglomerate of companies driven by HIM and officially launched in December 2017 during the Paris Climate Summit. At first it was a lobby made up of 100 companies worldwide, which wanted to officially commit to improving their business policies, so that they were sustainable and did not harm the environment. That among the companies that were part of Climate Action 100+ were oil companies or airlines did not seem to pose any problem for the climate prophets, who sometimes seem more interested in their marketing campaigns than in the so-called climate change. In 2019 Climate Action 100+ had grown to have more than 360 investors with more than 340 billion dollars in assets under management, and in 2022 with more than 700 investors with control of assets of more than 680,000 million.
Nor did it seem to pose an ethical dilemma for anyone who BlackRock, the largest vulture fund in the world, will actively participate in Climate Action 100+. The investment firm owns thousands of houses in our country acquired at a low price after they were seized from families with economic difficulties during the financial crisis, and which is now exploited as tourist accommodation, also causing rental prices to skyrocket in all big cities. His last business move in Spain occurred in mid-January, when he announced his intention to buy the 20% of the electric company Naturgy.
Now, BlackRock, the banking giant JP Morgan Chase, or the manager Pimco have announced that they are beginning to disassociate themselves from the climate lobby. Specifically, BlackRock announced it through a statement published on February 2 on its website, in which it explained that from now on they will begin a different phase of involvement with Climate Action, while other companies have directly abandoned the climate alliance.
And the current political context has nothing to do with that of 2017. Just as some companies that have promoted extremist policies in favor of women and to the detriment of men, or to get closer to the trans community, have suffered reputational damage and economic losses, –Disney laid off 7,000 employees in 2023 and finally the head of diversity and inclusion, Latondra Newton, after fiascos like The Little Mermaid, Lightyear or Strange Worldy Nike y Rip Curl have recently suffered boycotts for using transsexual men in their women’s clothing campaigns—others have decided to back down on climate bigotry. It is what is known as anti ESG movementwhich since 2020 brings together activists from all over the world, including representatives of companies and scientists who deny climate change as explained and imposed by large corporations.
ESG stands for Enviromental, Social y Governance, which in Spanish translates as environmental, social and good governance factors. According to the consulting firm Deloitte, the origin of this acronym dates back to the beginning of the 2000s and has been the result of the evolution of what was known as Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). But it goes beyond what we knew as ISR, since it has a holistic approach to all of a company’s processes, allowing us to see the scope of the impact that transcends the business.
The movement anti ESG not only is it gaining more and more strength in USA following the more than probable return of Donald Trump to power in this election year—Financial Times warned of this trend last December—but in Europe it has translated into a rural revolt what has been put up in arms against European bureaucracy, the 2030 Agenda and the Green Deal to the farmers and ranchers from Poland, Germany, France, Holland, and in recent weeks, Spain. At the same time, companies that used green policies as mere advertising strategies choose to distance themselves from this type of actions so as not to bother their consumers, what the FT called “ESG backlash«.
This has been the first day of the great rural march: farmers take Madrid despite the Government pic.twitter.com/Ib95XCivEu
— LA GACETA (@gaceta_es) February 21, 2024
This same Thursday, VOX brought to Congress and the Parliaments of several regions, including Madrid, a motion against the 2030 Agenda and the European Green Deal which leaves farm workers subject to unfair competition with non-EU countries such as Morocco or South Africaalthough Santiago Abascal’s party has been left alone defending the interests of the primary sector.
