• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » CEOs Drop Climate Change Talk to Focus on Surviving COVID-19

CEOs Drop Climate Change Talk to Focus on Surviving COVID-19

CEOs Drop Climate Change Talk to Focus on Surviving COVID-19
July 7, 2020
Bloomberg

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.

But by the time March came around, corporate leaders were more concerned with talk of virus testing, ventilators — and financial survival.

So sudden was the shift that a Bloomberg analysis of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies found climate change-related discussions dropped 50% during first-quarter earnings calls, compared with those for the previous quarter. Conversations about liquidity, cash flow and debt payments dominated, with many executives forced to take extraordinary measures to keep their businesses afloat in a suddenly devastated global economy.

“Over the last two years, climate talk had been steadily going up,” said Bill Weihl, who heads Climate Voice, an initiative designed to get companies to go “all in” on climate. The pandemic brought much of that to a halt.

Bloomberg analyzed mentions of climate change and related terms across all companies of the S&P 500 that held earnings calls for the first calendar quarter of 2019 through the first quarter of 2020. Companies were considered to have discussed climate change if they spoke about at least one of the search terms during the calls.

Discussions about the accelerating climate crisis dropped for every industry in the S&P 500. Executives at energy companies — crucial to any transition to renewable sources — mentioned climate change 58% fewer times than they did during fourth-quarter earnings calls with shareholders and analysts. Technology companies saw a 53% fall-off, and even worse were financial-services companies, where the drop was 69%.

Robert Swan, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chipmaker, said in his company’s fourth quarter 2019 earnings call that “it’s important to us to be a leader in environmental sustainability, and we’re investing to continue to increase the energy efficiency of our operations and our products.” But during Intel’s first-quarter call this year, there was no mention of the environment. “Intel is committed to accelerating access to technology that can combat the current pandemic and enable new technology and scientific discovery to better prepare society for future crises,” Swan said.

To be sure, future crises could be climate-related, but the company didn’t get specific. 

Hikmet Ersek, CEO of Western Union Co., one of the largest U.S. providers of money-transfer services, was discussing the company’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during its fourth quarter earnings call. Flash forward to the company’s first-quarter call, during which Ersek spoke of a different type of environment: the “market environment impacted by COVID-19.”

Executives for oil and gas companies such as ConocoPhillips, Diamondback and Phillips 66 touted their energy transition goals earlier this year. In early February, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said it was “imperative” that the fossil fuel giant take a leadership role in environmental, social and governance matters. By April, the language on the call shifted to production cuts, liquidity and demand.

“What’s been front and center has been the extreme volatility and carnage that’s occurred in the energy sector,” said Jennifer Rowland, an energy analyst at Edward Jones. “Some of these companies are still in survivor mode, never mind thinking about the energy transition over the next decade. The whole sector has been forced to think in the short term right now, and they don’t really have the luxury of being long-term focused at this particular moment, given the extreme dislocations that have occurred.”

What may be surprising however are the industries that managed to keep global warming front-of-mind during coronavirus-dominated calls. Sustainability talk in the utility sector did decline in the first quarter, but only by 31%. The drop at industrial companies was just 10%, Bloomberg’s analysis found.

Utilities — specifically electric companies — face a reckoning for their role in climate change-related disasters, such as the 2018 Camp Fire in California that killed 85 people. PG&E Corp. recently pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for its role in sparking the wildfire.

For another California-based electric utility, climate change has remained at the forefront of conversations throughout the crisis. On Edison International’s most recent earnings call, CEO Pedro J. Pizarro said the company remains committed to its focus on clean energy.

He went on to discuss Edison’s strategy to “combat the climate change that catalyzes extreme weather events and exacerbates wildfires.”

Celia Cazayoux, a senior investment strategist at People’s United Advisors, said that any downturn in corporate emphasis on climate crisis is only temporary. “The trend and the growth of paying attention to ESG factors is going to continue, despite what the numbers were in some of these calls.”

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Coronavirus Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
KEYWORDS Business Strategy Alignment Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Related Articles

    One Way to Slow Climate Change: Pay CEOs to Protect the Planet

    Fixing COVID-19’s Food Disaster Could Also Slash Climate Emissions

Bloomberg

CVS, Rite Aid Ration Contraceptive Pills as Demand Surges

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • coworkers collaborate

    Podcast | Linking Planning and Execution for Real-Time Decision-Making

    Sales & Operations Planning
  • FedEx

    FedEx Faces Big Changes as New Boss Confronts Higher Costs, Angry Contractors

    Last Mile Delivery
  • cyber crime

    The Cyber Blind Spot That Makes Every Supply Chain Vulnerable

    Regulation & Compliance
  • 0627_Guitars.png

    Sweetwater Responds to the ‘New Face of Agility’ in Supply Chain and Merchandising

    Inventory Planning/ Optimization
  • delivering package

    Consumers Prefer Personal Touch, Predictability, Over Super-Fast Delivery

    Last Mile Delivery

Digital Edition

Scb may 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain ESG Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

  • Fast-Growing Fashion Brand Scales E-Commerce Fulfillment With Whiplash

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics Generix
GEP GreyOrange Here
Honeywell Intelligrated IFM Inmar
Keelvar Kinaxis Korber
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
Lucas Systems Nvidia Old Dominion
ORTEC Parsyl QIMA
Redwood Logistics Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Verity
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2022 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing