Woke Smoke

Thorsteinn Siglaugsson has an entertaining TCW piece on the creepy and absurd nature of the UN’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards.


Blessed are the cigarette makers in UN’s world of woke

ALL businesses will soon be required to follow the UN’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards. These are intended to measure the contribution of businesses to environmental and social issues, as well as whether their operations fulfil the requirement of equality for all minority groups, real or imaginary. In Europe, under the new EU Taxonomy, companies are forced to submit complex and detailed ‘sustainability’ reports. The requirements apply not only to the companies; they also have to ensure that their suppliers meet them. Initially, these reporting requirements will only apply to medium to larger firms, but it won’t be long before smaller businesses and even the self-employed will have to comply as well. As the ‘conspiracy theorists’ have it, our homes will be next.

Recently it was reported that Tesla, one of those at the forefront of the transition to green energy, scored only 37 out of 100 points in S&P Global’s assessment of its performance in the aforementioned categories. It seems to weigh heavily against the company that it is mostly controlled by white males, and its executives have not spent much time or resources supporting various activist groups, or selecting suppliers based on their location in developing countries rather than the quality of their products.

The whole piece is well worth reading, as a reminder of how creepy the UN is and how absurd. I have never smoked, but this contrast with Tesla was encouraging. Correlation is not causation perhaps, but the UK was less deranged when smoking was more widespread.

However, cigarette maker Philip Morris won’t have to worry about this. It scored 84 out of 100 in the latest assessment of its contribution to improving the world. This performance is not based on the company’s products, which are the main cause of untimely deaths in the United States and cut short more lives than alcohol, drugs, and traffic accidents combined. The carbon footprint of the industry is significant, and its overall negative environmental impact looms large. Tobacco farming is mostly carried out in developing countries, causing deforestation and erosion.

But none of this matters when it comes to the ‘positive impact on society, sustainability, and equality’ as measured by ESG standards. The company claims it ‘empowers’ female tobacco farmers, fights against ‘systemic racism’ (conveniently forgetting that black Americans are proportionally most affected by smoking-related diseases), and emphasises the importance of combating ‘microaggression’ and hiring from diverse backgrounds.