The U.S. isn’t the only country that’s home to climate contrarian movements. Investors in Britain have pulled a net £376 million pounds from ESG equities strategies -- their highest ever month for flows -- according to Calastone’s latest Fund Flow Index. This news comes amid conflict between energy security and climate goals. And UK Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s recent announcement to issue more than 100 new oil and gas drilling licenses in the North Sea.

Meanwhile, pressure from foreign investors has spurred Japanese companies to look for more female board members this year, according to Winnie Hsu [hSOO], writing for Bloomberg. Women now make up 17% of board seats for firms in the Nikkei [NEEK-AY] 225 index – this after institutional investors including Norway’s $1.4 trillion pension fund, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs Asset Management set rules to vote against Japanese firms with few or no female board members.

An on to Australia. A senior Reserve Bank official there said on Tuesday that the country will need to “substantially” boost financing for sustainable projects if the nation is to decarbonize its economy and meet its net zero goal. Green bond issuances in the first half of 2023 have already exceeded last year’s record of  $10 billion Australian dollars. According to Carl Schwartz, the RBA’s acting head of domestic markets, green loans are another “attractive prospect” for assisting the transition to net zero. Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters per capita in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia.