In May 2022, HSBC’s head of responsible investing, Stuart Kirk, took to the stage at a City conference and did something extraordinary; he criticised the financial services industry’s obsession with climate change.

With a degree of candour that would ultimately cost him his job, Kirk said “I feel like it’s getting a little bit out of hand, the constant reminder that we are doomed,” adding “Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six metres........

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