ESG-Environmental, Social, and Governance investing principles are scored by firms to determine how forward-thinking they are in fostering a better society.
A community that values the environment, achieves social justice and practices moral corporate governance.
Therefore, the fact that cigarette businesses have some of the highest ESG rankings in the world shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Much higher than Tesla, the manufacturer of the electric vehicles that environmentalists are keen to replace internal combustion engines with.
ESG ratings are meant to guide investors toward ethical businesses. However, Big Tobacco has consistently outperformed Tesla wrt ESG ratings: Tesla receives a lower ranking from Sustainalytics, a popular ESG assessment tool, than Altria, one of the biggest cigarette producers in the world. British American Tobacco receives an ESG score of 94 from the London Stock Exchange, ranking third among all companies on the exchange’s top share index, whereas Tesla receives a mediocre 65.
ESG rating measures corporate progressivism
How is it that cigarettes, which cause the deaths of nearly eight million people annually, are considered a greater moral investment than electric vehicles? It might be connected to the corporate progressivism adopted by the tobacco business.
Companies like Altria have made a point of highlighting the diversity of their corporate boards and the depth of their social justice efforts, which range from supporting transgender women in sports to backing minority businesses. However, Tesla, whose executives are predominately white men, has resisted joining this trend, even going so far as to dismiss its top LGBT diversity officer last year.
Usually, the “S” in ESG refers to diversity initiatives. S&P Global assigned Philip Morris International a social score of 84. In 2021, the company touted cooperation with “African data scientists.” Tesla only scored 20.
Whether or not businesses actually improve the planet is completely irrelevant; what matters is adhering to an ideological agenda that the ESG proponents genuinely care about.
“ESG company ratings often measure abstract woke goals that have no rational connection to companies’ actual businesses,” said Boyden Gray & Associates managing partner Jonathan Berry, who sued NASDAQ last year over its diversity requirements for corporate boards.
Smoking kills more people than drinking, illegal drugs, and vehicle accidents combined
In America, smoking kills more people than drinking, illegal drugs, vehicle accidents, and all other causes of preventable mortality combined. Additionally, their supply chain commits a long list of environmental transgressions: Even e-cigarettes, which are promoted as a less dangerous alternative to tobacco, can produce significant pollution because they don’t biodegrade, contributing significantly to the industry’s high carbon footprint. Deforestation and soil erosion are consequences of tobacco production, which is primarily practiced in underdeveloped nations. Workers in the tobacco industry are exposed to hazardous substances, including high levels of nicotine, which can result in hospitalization.
However, ESG ratings frequently conceal these consequences.