HSBC Asset Management has suspended Stuart Kirk, its head of “responsible investing,” after he derisively denied the financial risks caused by climate change and accused those raising alarms of attempting to “out-hyperbole the next guy.” Kirk asked “Who cares if Miami is six meters underwater in 100 years?” at the Financial Times “Moral Money” event last week. Those concerned about climate change and their “unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong,” he wrote on a slide. The thing that really bothered him, however, “is the amount of work these people made me do.” He also accused central banks of intentionally skewing stress tests to create alarm over long-term growth. HSBC said its global head of responsible investing did not reflect its views “in any way.” (Suspension: FT $, Bloomberg $, Fortune; Remarks: FT $, The Independent, Forbes, Bloomberg $, Reuters, Telegraph, Bloomberg $, The Guardian, Business Green)
