Message From the Editor

This week, investigative journalist Dana Drugmand unpacked new research concluding that six major US retirement funds would be worth a combined $21 billion more today if they had divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.

Using Bloomberg Terminal data, the researchers looked at the actual portfolio performance between December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2022 of six funds, then they analyzed how the funds would have done over the same time period if the fossil fuel investments had pulled.

“[Fossil fuel] divestments are able to create a win-win situation with higher financial returns and lower carbon footprints,” the researchers concluded.

Across the pond, a letter published by the Telegraph reveals the allies of an anti-net zero parliamentary group including former Conservative ministers and high-ranking MPs.

The letter called for the suspension of a UK scheme that imposes costs on energy-intensive industries for their carbon emissions and was signed by 29 Conservative MPs and peers, some of which were not known to back the group.

This week also brought an update in the landmark constitutional youth climate lawsuit Juliana v. United States as the U.S. Department of Justice asked the federal district court in Oregon to put an end to the case after the court reactivated the litigation earlier this month.

With unprecedented legal tactics deployed by the Trump administration, the case was initially dismissed in January 2020. But a long-awaited ruling on June 1 allowed the case to proceed under a revised version of the complaint. However, the DOJ under the Biden administration appears to be resuming the fight against the 21 youth plaintiffs with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on June 22.

This comes on the back of the conclusion of Held v. State of Montana, the first youth climate case to go to trial. We’ll keep you updated on the developments for all the climate change lawsuits, so stay tuned and watch our social media for updates.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Climate Clock

Public Pension Funds Have Lost Billions on Their Fossil Fuel Investments: New Analysis

— By Dana Drugmand (3 min. read) —

For U.S. public pension funds, divesting from oil, coal, and gas would result in overall higher financial value.

That is the key takeaway from a new study examining the past decade’s portfolio performance for several of the largest public pension funds in the country. The analysis by researchers at the University of Waterloo, published today in partnership with the organization Stand.earth, has found that the total cumulative value of six major U.S. public pension funds would have been about 13 percent higher had they divested from fossil fuel holdings ten years ago – equivalent to around $21 million in earnings.

US Government Urges Court to Dismiss Federal Youth Climate Lawsuit

— By Dana Drugmand (5 min. read) —

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal district court in Oregon to put an end to the landmark constitutional youth climate lawsuit Juliana v. United States after the court reactivated the litigation earlier this month.

The case, which was originally filed in 2015 and alleges constitutional violations stemming from the federal government’s ongoing support of climate-destabilizing fossil fuels, had nearly made it to trial twice before. But after the Obama administration failed in the government’s initial bid to get the case dismissed, unprecedented legal tactics deployed by the Trump administration derailed the proceedings and a federal appeals court eventually dismissed the case in January 2020. 

High-Profile Allies of Anti-Net Zero Parliamentary Group Revealed in Telegraph Letter

— By Adam Barnett and Sam Bright (5 min. read) —

New allies of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) of MPs and Lords have today been revealed in a letter published by the Telegraph. 

The NZSG campaigns against the UK’s legally binding net zero commitments. The letter reveals new supporters among influential Conservative MPs and peers not previously known to back the group including former Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lord Frost, Iain Duncan Smith, Andrea Jenkyns, Jonathan Gullis, and Miriam Cates. 

PR Agency Catering to Oil Interests Led UK Climate Forum’s Communications

— By Brendan DeMelle (6 min. read) —

The UK’s Climate Innovation Forum named global PR agency Weber Shandwick as its “official communications partner,” despite the agency recently holding or continuing to hold contracts with at least eight oil and gas companies, an oil financier, and an industry lobby group.

On Wednesday, June 28, the climate conference convened in London as part of London Climate Action Week, hosted by the UK-based global event organizer Climate Action in partnership with the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Climate Innovation Forum describes the UK’s net-zero transition as an “urgent existential imperative and a significant commercial opportunity.” Climate Action did not respond to a request for comment.

As the Climate Warms, Use of Clean Energy Credits Comes Under Increased Scrutiny

— By Patrick Cooley (5 min. read) —

The two corporations investing billions to build three new factories just outside Columbus, Ohio, have said that the facilities will be carbon neutral — despite Ohio’s near-total reliance on electricity from fossil fuels. 

Both Honda and Intel have stated that renewable energy credits, or RECs — certificates purchased on a marketplace that fund clean power companies — will help them meet that goal. But so far those plans have received little scrutiny.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Net Zero Scrutiny Group

Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) is made up of backbench Conservative MPs, including former government ministers, and opposes many of the government’s net zero policies. The NZSG was formed in 2021 ahead of the UN COP26 climate summit, hosted by the UK in Glasgow, Scotland, and publicly launched in January 2022. The NZSG claims to accept climate science, but the group has a number of strong institutional links with the Global Warming Policy Foundation, the UK’s most prominent climate science denial organization.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.