By Ross Kerber
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Many debates in the environmental business community boil down to the valuations that shareholders might put on future technologies like carbon capture or superconductors that are still under development.
That is why a recent accounting change by the top U.S. public pension fund caught my interest. You can read more in my column this week, linked below.
I have also flagged stories about GM's decision to quit the robotaxi business and a new solar-power agreement for a Phillips 66 refinery.
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CalPERS CEO Frost rejiggers climate accounting
Just saying an investment is "climate-related" doesn't make it so, according to a review by the California Public Employees' Retirement System.
A little over a year ago the largest U.S. state public pension plan set out to roughly double to $100 billion its investments meant to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Last month the system known as CalPERS said it made new commitments of $3.6 billion since the initial announcement and hinted at more to come.
What CalPERS has not said until now is that it has also cast a more critical eye on some of the investments it had counted among its "climate solutions" holdings. You can read more in my column this week by clicking here.
Company News
Phillips 66 PSX.N will help power its refinery in Rodeo, California, with a new solar facility owned and operated by electrical utility NextEra Energy NEE.N.
General Motors GM.N will stop funding and exit robotaxi development at its majority-owned Cruise business, a blow to the automaker that had made the advanced technology unit a top priority.
U.S. grocery chains Kroger KR.N and Albertsons ACI.N could turn to advertising ventures after U.S. courts blocked their $25 billion merger.
On my radar
A new EY Institutional Investor Survey found "a significant gap between investors’ statements on the importance of ESG and the action they are taking." While 88% of respondents said their firms have used more ESG information, 92% said they don't think it is worth sacrificing short-term performance for the longer-term potential benefits of ESG investments.
Top asset manager BlackRock BLK.N is looking to expand its technology opportunities including in artificial intelligence, Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein said at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))
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