climate risk assesment enters into investment

This is the way that shareholder power is working; people are realising that climate issues carry financial risks of various kinds [not least in the USA of class action suits, I imagine] and are wanting to know the scale of such risks to inform their investment choices.



To quote from the article:

"Recent evidence suggests that in certain sectors the cost of climate change to shareholder value can represent as much as 15 per cent of the total market capitalisation of major companies."



The move reflects a nascent but growing emphasis on socially responsible investing, as non-governmental organisations and some institutional investors try to force companies to become more environmentally responsible.Institutional investors are increasingly filing shareholder resolutions asking companies to disclose financial risks from climate change and environmental regulations. [end quote]



Again it adds up to not only ethical concerns but a recognition that ethics will come back and bite you if ignored. It is increasingly hard to avoid the consequences of irresposible actions [not like in the good old days of industrial capitalism, eh?] and they have price tags. What goes around really does come around. Politics for a connected world is about globalised interconnection. I don't see the end of capitalism but I do see it being chastened by the the need for prices to reflect real costs.