This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

Recent Supreme Court decisions damage the international reputation of the US. On June 24, the Court, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , upheld a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest. The decision strikes down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.  In West Virginia v. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) prevents the agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a core mission and task of the EPA. The regulation questioned concerns carbon dioxide generated by power plants — in the middle of increased global efforts to reduce these emissions. This case was based on the Clean Power Plan, a plan to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants that was never implemented. Biden tried to have the case dismissed since the policy at issue was not operational nor was it being resurrected. The Court ruled anyway. The EPA decision will have the added impact of limiting the ability of the US government to addr...

Black women die in childbirth at disproportionate rates compared to their white counterparts. Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clearly shows that social determinants - access to nutrition, transportation, and healthcare——are crucial factors. With the decision to restrict access to birth control and care, the Supreme Court imposed additional penalties on a selected portion of the US population - Black women. They were added without due process or a trial at the individual level. These elevated risks are clear and undeniable, as explained below. Assume two population groups or sectors. In Sector One, women die in childbirth at the rate of ten per 1,000 live births. In Sector Two, the maternal mortality rate is 100 per 1,000 live births. With the elimination of birth control, there are 2,000 live births in each sector. This implies 20 Sector One deaths and 200 in Sector Two. Amanda Stevenson, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, ...

On July 28, 2021, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held  a webinar titled “Equality of Opportunity in Action: Addressing Maternal Healthcare Disparities”, discussing racial gaps in maternal health outcomes and the proposed Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act.  Maternal mortality rates are critically high in the United States, and problematically, higher for minority groups due to various social and structural inequities. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Black women are much more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. In fact, if childbirth as a Black woman were an occupation, it would be the 5th deadliest job in America.  The first part of the webinar featured Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, a nurse instructor and Representative with a background in healthcare policy. She emphasized that the majority of maternal deaths are preventable, but that this persistent and withstanding crisis has been problematically ...