A high-ranking HSBC executive has resigned, claiming that his position had become “unsustainable” as a result of backlash from a speech he gave last spring downplaying the financial risks of climate change.
Stuart Kirk, who was serving as HSBC Asset Management Global Head of Responsible Investment, announced his resignation in a LinkedIn post on July 7. In the post, Kirk criticized “the nonsense, hypocrisy, sloppy logic, and group-think inside the mainstream bubble of sustainable finance,” claiming the company stifled viewpoint diversity and stuck to “bonkers” ideas about sustainable investment.
