Climate Change: A Material Financial Risk

In early 2021, Engine No. 1, a six-month-old hedge fund that managed around $250 million in assets owned a slight sliver of 0.02% of ExxonMobil, the oil and gas giant that’s worth $250 billion. Engine No. 1 mounted a shareholder activist challenge to turn ExxonMobil away from fossil fuels and managed to get three of its nominees elected to the ExxonMobil’s board. The hedge fund stressed in its letter to the shareholders that there was an urgent need for “fresh direction in a rapidly decarbonizin.