COP29 and a number of consequential elections informed our choice of the environment as the key topic of 2024. Here we present five editor picks of relevant blog posts by Dirk Jenter (sustainability v profitability), Nick Robins (just transition), Rodrigo Tavares (financialising ESG), Nuri C Onat and Murat Kucukvar (environmental consequences of bitcoin mining) and Aadya Bahl (skills for net zero). Happy readings and happy new year!

Expectations for the real-world impact of sustainable investing are unrealistic

The asset management industry has shown support for sustainable investing, but do they follow sustainability principles in their investment decisions? Together with two colleagues, Dirk Jenter surveyed 509 equity portfolio managers on how much firms’ environmental and social performance feature in their investment decisions. He writes that most investors wouldn’t sacrifice profitability only to advance environmental and social goals. And funds marketed as sustainable aren’t that different from traditional ones.

Nick Robins: “We can’t speed ahead with a technocratic climate focus that leaves people behind”

The race is on to implement a guide for the “just transition”, a framework to ensure workers aren’t left behind when businesses make changes to cut emissions and become more climate resilient. Nick Robins heads the Just Transition Finance Lab, which experiments and proposes financial solutions towards a just transition. In this Q&A, he explains what the Lab expects to be doing in the next few years.

Want to save ESG from irrelevance? Financialise it

ESG can be interpreted in widely different ways in investment circles, and often the pursuit of compliance overshadows the pursuit of meaningful change. Rodrigo Tavares writes that the best way to save the environmental, social and governance framework from irrelevance is to strip it from all elements that don’t impact a financial asset. This way, ESG can become a textbook requirement for investment and banking professionals.

The large environmental consequences of bitcoin mining

Bitcoin has the potential to revolutionise financial markets and enjoys substantial global influence. However, the energy demands of bitcoin mining contribute to rising carbon emissions. In a study, Nuri C Onat, Murat Kucukvar and colleagues found that bitcoin mining has a significant carbon footprint embodied in its complex global supply chains. They write that the environmental consequences of digital currencies must be taken into account.

Achieving net zero by 2050 requires changes to the UK skills landscape

As COP29 brings climate action into focus, it’s clear that policy must go beyond carbon trading and finance. To make net zero a reality, the workforce must be equipped with the right skills. Aadya Bahl examines what this transition means for the UK labour market, highlighting the urgent need for targeted skills policies.

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• This list of blog posts represents the views of the author(s), not the position of LSE Business Review or the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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