Stock Market News

Financial risks of climate change overplayed, senior HSBC banker says

2022.05.20 11:57

Financial risks of climate change overplayed, senior HSBC banker says
FILE PHOTO: The Angel of Independence monument stands next to British bank HSBC’s headquarters in Mexico City July 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/File Photo

By Lawrence White, Sinead Cruise and Simon Jessop

LONDON (Reuters) – Central bank policymakers and other global authorities are exaggerating the financial risks of climate change, a senior HSBC banker in charge of sustainable investments said in remarks that drew criticism from climate activists.

The bank said his views did not reflect those of HSBC as a whole.

“Unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong,” Stuart Kirk, HSBC’s head of responsible investing, wrote on a slide accompanying his presentation at a conference in London on Thursday alongside quotations from bodies such as the United Nations and Bank of England warning of the risks.

Kirk said that such warnings meant his team and HSBC in general are spending a disproportionate amount of time dealing with climate risk, as opposed to other challenges.

“We’ve got inflation coming down the pipes and I’m being told to spend time and time again looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years, the proportionality is completely out of whack,” he told the conference hosted by the Financial Times, which posted online a video recording of the event.

Nicolas Moreau, Chief Executive of HSBC Asset Management, told Reuters via a spokesperson that Kirk’s remarks did not represent the company’s views.

“HSBC regards climate change as one of the most serious emergencies facing the planet,” Moreau said in an email sent via a spokesperson.

HSBC Asset Management oversees some $640 billion in assets, according to the company website.

Kirk did not respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn.

Kirk’s comments drew criticism from activist groups that have campaigned for HSBC and other financial firms to reduce their funding of the fossil fuels industry and toughen their climate pledges.

“This should raise red flags to any clients of HSBC that care about net-zero,” Jeanne Martin, campaign manager at responsible investment NGO Share Action, tweeted.

Beau O’Sullivan, senior campaigner on the Bank on our Future campaign, called the comments “regressive and grossly flawed”, adding climate change posed a material risk to financial assets.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 69,473.61 0.48%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,495.81 0.85%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999833 0.17%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 574.35 0.91%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 166.31 0.83%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.11%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.511313 1.77%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,494.81 0.79%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.159254 0.34%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.167232 0.11%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.356278 2.77%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.92 0.97%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,953.07 0.37%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000018 0.94%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 69,364.58 0.27%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.68 1.43%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,495.99 0.84%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 11.19 1.32%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 347.08 0.47%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.40%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.07 0.39%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 3.90 1.21%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 1.93 0.46%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 70.61 2.64%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.94 1.04%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 8.71 2.71%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,625.13 0.46%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.43 4.93%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 1.96%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.83 0.92%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 456.54 2.00%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999773 0.14%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.21 4.71%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.115552 2.36%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 155.87 1.56%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.06%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.092419 0.13%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.36 0.30%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 18.96 0.36%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 0.998749 0.33%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.31676 0.56%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.59 0.80%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 38.08 0.24%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.20 4.83%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 141.09 1.50%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.47 0.61%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.518133 2.40%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.07305 0.53%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.576028 0.39%
optimism
Optimism (OP) $ 1.50 6.32%