Sustainability Now

The Camp Fire of 2018 was one of the worst wildfires in California's history. After it was found to be caused through negligence on the part of utility giant Pacific Gas and Electric, the victims sued the company and won compensation. But then PG&E did something off and made the victims part owners of the beleaguered company. We ask : Does this help the victims, the company, or the market? Then we have two hot takes on an organization started by an ex‐facebooker that tries to hold companies accountable for climate change and Boeing switches up its board.

BP announced it would work toward a carbon‐neutral future, but that would mean it has to grown its revenue from renewables at speeds seen only by alphabet, which is difficult because renewables aren't the same money makers as fossil fuels, so oil and gas might have to start moving into new businesses; And Japan announces it will build 22 new coal plants in the next five years which is odd because everyone else is moving away from coal.

As the 2019 Novel Coronavirus spreads with worrying speed, we debate the applicability of ESG when it comes to discussing infectious disease and short‐term pandemics; and after the EU watchdog says ESG rating firms allow companies to be greenwashed, we discuss what it even means for a company to be considered "green ".

Companies are finding they can now be guilty by association and attract the ire of stakeholders for something as simple as a railway. Siemens found this out after it invested a relatively small amount in a signaling system for a railway that connected a coal mine in Australia. Many of Siemens' stakeholders descended, and it got so bad that both the CEO and Chairman of the company had to weigh in and it did not go very well. This week we discuss what happens when a company decides to invest even a small amount in a controversial project.

Amazon employees publicly shamed the company over its Amazon Web Services' connection with oil and gas companies and US federal agencies. But how does a web service company work with an oil and gas company? And does this mean Jeff Bezos won't be able to keep his pledge with the Business Roundtable?

ConocoPhillips partnered with Aboriginal groups in Australia to implement a carbon offset program. It is innovative and considers more stakeholders than just shareholders, but there is debate around the effectiveness of carbon offsets. And heavy carbon emitters that rely on carbon offsets to cut their emissions might be setting themselves and their stakeholders up for failure.

This week we discuss The World Economic Forum's finding that, for the first time in its 15-year history, the climate crisis fills the top 5 risks global leader believe our world will face in the coming decade, and then Siyu Liu and Andrew Young explain how the new California Consumer Privacy Act will change how tech companies can collect and monopolize our personal data.

This week we discuss how insurance companies address the physical risks and business risks caused by climate disasters such as the wildfires in Australia, then Andrew Young joins us to give his hot 2020 take on how social media will drop the ball during the US election year.

This week we discuss our new report on the progress companies have made toward gender diversity after Intel decides to release all its pay data to the public, and Ric Marshall joins us to discuss what happens we an oligopoly fails.

This week we discuss how automakers in the EU are under pressure to lower emissions while European customers continue to buy more and more SUVs, and Velina Karadzhova and Ric Marshall join us to discuss energy power Drax's net ‐negative 10 year carbon emissions plan (9:39) and Exxon's victory over the New York state attorney (12:24).