July 2026 Newsletter
News & Commentaries by Ron Robins
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New July Podcast:
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BT Explainer| Nifty 500 Ahimsa Index: What it is, which companies are included and more. “Nifty 500 Ahimsa Index: The weight of each stock is based on its market value. This makes it easy for asset managers to create ethical Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or index funds.”
{COMMENTARY] From Wikipedia, Ahimsa is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence that applies to actions toward all living beings. It is a key virtue in Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In the Ahimsa Index, nonviolence is applied broadly across industries and companies. It could appeal to many ethical and sustainable investors — as well as those who are vegetarian, vegan, or against animal cruelty.
BT Explainer| Nifty 500 Ahimsa Index: What it is, which companies are included and more, by Aseem Thapliyal, July 21, 2026, Business Today, India.
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What Sustainability Disclosures Actually Disclose. “We analyze more than 15,000 disclosure documents issued by over 2,100 Russell 3000 firms, covering more than 11,000 company-year observations spanning 1998 to 2023.”
[COMMENTARY] What this study finds is that there is wide variability of what is reported and how it is reported.
What Sustainability Disclosures Actually Disclose, Hajin Kim (University of Chicago Law School), July 20, 2026, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, USA.
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Inside the $27B ESG Consulting Boom. “By leveraging innovative reporting methods that combine financial and non-financial criteria, companies are overhauling their strategies to protect long-term corporate value.”
[COMMENTARY] Companies need to quantify and have their ESG, sustainability and CSR data verified by outside independent consultants. Hence, the consulting boom. I’ve been talking about this since the 1970s. When you read companies making claims in those previously mentioned activities or operations, be sure to check the authenticity of the claims.
Inside the $27B ESG Consulting Boom, by
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‘A troubling precedent’: Businesses ask Senate to kill a plan to limit stock buybacks and dividends. “Businesses are urging Congress to strip a measure from a bill that would restrict defense contractors from issuing dividends or buying back their stock.”
[COMMENTARY] A huge part of US stock market gains are due to stock buybacks — and instead of plowing profits so employed into business expansion. When investors receive funds from stock buybacks, they usually buy more stocks! Many people in the ethical investment community — including myself — consider stock buybacks unethical.
‘A troubling precedent’: Businesses ask Senate to kill a plan to limit stock buybacks and dividends, by Samuel O’Brient, July 14, 2026, Business Insider, USA.
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AI Can Measure How ESG Really Impacts the Bottom Line. “Advances in large language models are making rigorous sustainability analysis dramatically faster and cheaper, allowing investors and other stakeholders to connect companies’ disclosed environmental and social risks directly to financial performance in a matter of hours rather than weeks.”
[COMMENTARY] For years, companies and investors alike have wondered how to measure the materiality of ESG on profitability without it taking inordinate amounts of time, energy and cost. This article by two highly respected long-time academics in ESG and sustainable investing now demonstrate ways to accomplish this goal.
AI Can Measure How ESG Really Impacts the Bottom Line, by Robert G. Eccles and Shivaram Rajgopal, July 14, 2026, Harvard Business Review, USA.
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Renewable Energy Beats Fossil Fuels On Speed-To-Power (Shocker!). “Renewables Remain the Lowest-Cost New-Build Generation Despite Rising Cost Pressures, Lazard’s 2026 Levelized Cost of Energy+ Report Finds.”
[COMMENTARY] If you listen to the US administration or many leading investment industry talking heads, you would think renewable energy is defunct. Well, this report and others on this subject say otherwise! American sustainable investors should gain renewed confidence in the future of renewables from this authoritative report.
Renewable Energy Beats Fossil Fuels On Speed-To-Power (Shocker!), by Tina Casey, July 13, 2026, CleanTechnica, USA
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Expert dispels myths on renewable energy costs and reliability. “Griggs cites IRENA data showing most new renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, with solar now 41% cheaper and onshore wind 53% cheaper.”
[COMMENTARY] If the US wants to compete with China — eventually — on power production and costs — particularly to power the massive new data centres — it will need to heavily rely on renewable energy and battery storage expansion! Study after study shows the combination of renewable energy and battery storage is unbeatable in terms of its cost structure and ability to quickly build!
Expert dispels myths on renewable energy costs and reliability, July 12, 2026, MSN, USA.
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New “Ex-Elon” ETFs Aim To Strip Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) And SpaceX From Investor Portfolios. “Subversive Markets Lab LLC has filed with the SEC to launch two new ETFs designed to track major U.S. indexes while excluding companies founded, controlled, or led by Elon Musk.”
[COMMENTARY] This post might seem somewhat unusual for this site; however, I’ve previously discussed the ethics of Elon Musk’s absolute control of SpaceX. He controls 79% of SpaceX’s voting shares with just 42% of the equity, via two classes of shares. One class of shares are commonly called ‘super-voting’ shares. Generally, the ethical investment industry has decried such arrangements as they relegate other investors who bring in the investment cash to having virtually no say in the company’s operations! Hence, not only have some ethical and even conventional funds stayed away from SpaceX — but we see new funds created specifically to avoid Elon Musk companies!
New “Ex-Elon” ETFs Aim To Strip Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) And SpaceX From Investor Portfolios, by Ewan Scott, July 12, 2026, Foreign Policy Journal, USA.
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ESG ratings and new EU supervision as of 2 July 2026. “As of 2 July 2026, the ESG Ratings Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/3005, the Regulation) will start to apply. Adopted in November 2024, the Regulation aims to improve the reliability and transparency of ESG ratings used in the European Union.”
[COMMENTARY] I suspect that other jurisdictions will also want to regulate ESG raters. However, the US will probably enact such legislation only when the Democrats resume control of the US federal political system, if and when that comes to pass. Also, I hope that in Europe the diversity of ESG rating methodologies continues, but that there is standardization of the ‘components’ that make up the ESG score.
ESG ratings and new EU supervision as of 2 July 2026, by Stibbe, June 29, 2026, Europe.
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Featured Book
Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing: From ESG Integration to Impact Measurement and the Future of Responsible Investing – The Complete Guide to Aligning Capital with Purpose. “Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing is the comprehensive professional reference that demystifies this complex and rapidly evolving field. Written for practitioners who demand authoritative, actionable content, this book bridges the gap between theoretical frameworks and real-world implementation across all major asset classes.”
For more information, visit Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing: From ESG Integration to Impact Measurement and the Future of Responsible Investing – The Complete Guide to Aligning Capital with Purpose, by Peter Savin, April 2, 2026, independently published.
