Week 48: ESG Investors Labelled as 'Terrorists'? The Real Story Behind COP29 and China's Role

Dear all,

A conspiracy. Illegal weaponization. ESG investors may soon be classified as terrorists in some US states. ESG professionals may face legal prosecution for crimes against the system. Sounds Orwellian, indeed, but as it stands today, we might not be far from it.

The next time you travel to an ESG or sustainability-related conference in the US, you could risk being arrested upon arrival. An enemy of the system. Legal destruction. Supported by laws and executed with precision, like clockwork. Laws, the cornerstones of our societies, are now being used—particularly in many US states—to intentionally dismantle any form of action against an unsustainable, unequal, and deeply flawed system.

It’s democracy. It’s the choice of the people. And there’s little we can do about it.

The fight for the future lies in the past. We have a tendency to forget history—to forget where we come from and where we have been. It’s a costly lesson we pay for repeatedly, convincing ourselves that this, too, shall pass—in a year, or two, or four.

Property rights are not a suicide pact, yet it seems that, at least in the US, they take precedence over protecting the public good. Do we understand what a destructive, politicized environmental agenda looks like? Perhaps not. But we are all too familiar with a destructive, neo-classical, capitalist, politicized agenda. This is the one we live with every day.

The illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive environmental agenda. Financial professionals in the US working with ESG might think twice when accused of using "illegal weaponized financial services." Pay attention to the language—the depth of violence embedded in these words and the messages they carry.

A conspiracy. We live in a sick world. Our entire civilization is ill.

Just a week ago, COP29 concluded with a $300 billion commitment in compensation for climate change-related damages to the world’s poorest people. And it was a struggle—it was an insult to billions already living in poverty.

Meanwhile, US consumers likely spent a record $10.8 billion online on Black Friday, according to Adobe Inc. This Thanksgiving weekend, Adobe projects $5.2 billion in spending on Saturday and another $5.6 billion on Sunday. Cyber Monday is forecasted to bring $13.2 billion in spending.