The biggest US private equity investors have exacerbated the climate crisis by covertly profiting from unsustainable fuel projects around the world, a new report by Private Equity Stakeholder Project and LittleSis revealed on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2022) The biggest US private equity investors have exacerbated the climate crisis by covertly profiting from unsustainable fuel projects around the world, a new report by Private Equity Stakeholder Project and LittleSis revealed on Tuesday.
At least 12 major US private equity companies, including the Carlyle Group and the Blackstone Group, have benefited from the most destructive oil and gas investments in fracking, oil pipelines, coal plants and offshore drilling, the report said.
Private equity is a type of investments that take place opaquely and, as a rule, is exempt from public disclosures making it hard to track. In most cases, the investment capital comes from such institutional investors as public and private funds that manage funds of regular workers.
More than $7.5 trillion is currently invested around the world by the private equity industry in every sector of the economy, the report said. In 2021 alone, private equity firms have closed deals buying stakes in companies for a total of $1 trillion.
The Carlyle Group has established joint ventures with an array of oil and gas firms like Hilcorp Energy, which is one of the largest methane emitters whose underwater pipeline project poses a threat to Alaska wildlife, the report said.
Blackstone Group owns one of the dirtiest coal plants in the United States and is a major stakeholder in the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the report added.
The list of private equity companies with investments in oil and gas industries also includes KKR & Co. Inc., Ares Management, ArcLight Capital, Kayne Anderson and Riverstone Holdings.
