There was a time when it was possible to point out an error by way of a rebuttal published as a note in a scientific journal – even in the journal Nature, even when it went against the catastrophic anthropogenic global warming agenda. The late Patrick Michaels had a note published back in 1996 (vol. 384, pg. 522) explaining that there was a major error in research findings by Ben Santer – findings so significant they underpinned the key claim in the second IPCC report that ‘The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.’

If the pundits are to be believed, the march of ESG through Australian boardrooms is an unstoppable force, so said Moody’s Head of Sustainability at their conference recently in Sydney.

What started as a push to ensure environment, social and governance perspectives were given due weight in assessing companies and securities, is now shorthand for declaring certain forms of value-creation verboten.