Private Equity Keeps Up Greenwash Blather, Keeps Pouring Money Into Dirtiest Energy Sectors
Private equity firms pumping billions of dollars into dirty energy projects are exposing investors, including pensioners, to unknown financial risks as the planet burns and governments face escalating pressure to act, new research finds. The first-of-its-kind climate risks scorecard ranks Carlyle, Warburg Pincus and KKR as the worst offenders among eight major private equity companies with significant fossil fuel portfolios.
All three continue investing heavily in greenhouse-gas-emitting projects with no adequate plan on transitioning away from oil and gas, according to the analysis by two financial watchdog non-profits of publicly available information. The firms also have scant transparency on political and climate lobbying, the report finds.
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More than three-quarters of Carlyles energy investments are in fossil fuels, and just over 60% of its 2022 first half profits came through its subsidiary NGP Energy Capital, which focuses almost exclusively on oil and gas projects. Last year Warburg Pincus announced that it would not seek further fossil fuel investments in its next buyout, yet since then its dirty energy portfolio has expanded.
KKR, one of the worlds wealthiest private equity firms, has said it will continue to invest in fossil fuel projects despite publishing a climate action strategy. Among the worst downstream polluters is Blackstone, which also scored a D rating, with its power plants emitting a combined 18.1m metric tonnes of planet-warming carbon dioxide in 2020 equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 4m gas-powered cars, according to the report.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/14/private-equity-dirty-energy-carlyle-warburg-pincus-kkr-climate-risks-scorecard