This is the type of stuff I was writing about in the introduction to December 9's Knowledge@Wharton:: "Why ESG Investors Are Happy to Settle for Lower Returns":
Warning: Because there is a paucity of alt-energy stocks that don't rely on cobalt mined by children in the DRC (for example), certainly not $30 trillion worth, the vast majority of equities touted as ESG by the marketeers are tech stocks.
In part this is because the Google's of the world can claim energy efficiency by talking revenue per kilowatt of electricity used or carbon neutrality because their data centers use hydro-produced electricity or because they don't have smokestacks that some ambush photojournalist can snap pictures of or, whatever.
What this means in practical terms is that when you buy ESG you are buying growth and hypergrowth stocks. Meaning that if there actually is a rotation to value/small cap/other factors etc,. ESG is going to lag, possibly dramatically and ESG investors had better be resigned to underperformance for a long time, and possibly until behaviors are mandated by force of law..
This isn't where the below piece is going but is something that should be top-of-mind any time the subject comes up.
From K@W:...
And today's stories. First up, EVWind, December 10:
Ørsted and Amazon sign Europe’s largest offshore wind energy corporate PPA
Amazon, the technology company based in Seattle, Washington, has signed a 10-year corporate power purchase agreement with Ørsted, the world-leader in offshore wind, to offtake the output of 250MW from Ørsted’s planned 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in Germany. This CPPA will contribute to Amazon’s target of being 100% renewable by 2030 as part of the company’s goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Rasmus Errboe, Senior Vice President, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted Offshore and responsible for Corporate PPAs, said:
“We applaud Amazon’s leadership in corporate renewable energy investments which helps drive the green energy transformation forward....MUCH MORE
And from TameBay, December 13:
Amazon becomes largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy
Amazon have recently announced that they are set to become the largest-ever corporate purchaser of renewable energy.
Amazon have now invested in 6.5 GW of wind and solar projects to help supply their operations with more than 18 million megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually, enough to power 1.7 million U.S. homes for one year.
The projects are also helping towards Amazon’s goal to be net-zero carbon emissions across its business by 2040 in line with the Paris Agreement. The climate pledge is a commitment to hit the net-zero goal by 2025 and recently welcomed 5 further companies meaning 31 organisations in total are taking part in the pledge....
....MORE
All of which means AMZN will be touted as an exemplar of ESG and poured into portfolios while the stock is rangebound since July after the Covid-19 double from the lows:
Øerstad on the other hand seems to drop out of one of the feedreaders every other day
As for the "Ø" see "Oh Oh Norway, You Are Busted".
