US House committee demands ESG information from investors (updated)
30/07/2024 23:16
(Adds investor group comment, paragraphs 6 and 8)
By Isla Binnie
NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - The Republican leader of a
U.S. congressional committee wrote on Tuesday to demand more
than 130 investors explain their environmental, social and
governance (ESG) goals, highlighting how his party's scrutiny of
such initiatives is continuing.
Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, who penned the
letters, has warned money managers that collective pledges to
drive down greenhouse gas emissions might violate antitrust law.
The Democratic minority on the committee disagrees, reflecting a
broader partisan split on the issue.
Republican ire has landed forcefully upon alliances that
formed around corporate commitments to help combat climate
change, partly driven by fears of job losses in the fossil fuel
industry. One of those groups is Climate Action 100+, which
boasts around 700 signatories.
The committee's letters pertain to Climate Action 100+'s
push for companies to implement plans to deal with the energy
transition.
Each recipient was asked what requests they will make of
companies in their portfolio, and was told to preserve "all
documents and communications referring or relating to the
company's efforts to advance ESG-related goals".
A representative for climate-focused investor group Ceres,
which co-founded Climate Action 100+, said "tens of thousands of
documents" had already been produced for the committee and the
letters were "unlikely to gather any new information".
No antitrust lawsuit has been brought against any climate
coalition, but Jordan's committee claims responsibility for the
decisions taken by several asset managers to end their
membership of the group for fear of a crackdown.
"These letters are another attempt to deter investors from
participating in the initiative," the Ceres representative said.
The committee has also interviewed former regulators as part
of its antitrust probe.
A rule passed by U.S. President Joe Biden, which itself
overturned one put in place by his predecessor Donald Trump to
limit socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans,
is still being litigated in court.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
((isla.binnie@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
isla.binnie.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))