CEOs Drop Climate Change Talk to Focus on Surviving Covid-19
Green chatter on earnings calls slumped by half during the first quarter, with the decline steepest among energy, consumer and financial companies.
Just as 2020 seemed like it might be a breakthrough year for corporations looking to combat climate change, the novel coronavirus emerged.
Back in September, Time published a special climate issue titled “2050: How Earth Survived,” calling out the fossil-fuel industry and foreshadowing drastic changes and consequences the world would have to embrace to avoid catastrophe. In January, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg lectured United Nations leaders about greenhouse gas emissions after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. That same month, BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink pushed environmental issues to the top of Wall Street’s agenda.