Mona Dohle

Financing dies in darkness? The impact of newspaper closures on public finance We examine how local newspaper closures affect public finance outcomes for local governments. Following a newspaper closure, municipal borrowing costs…

Studies show that when local news outlets stop scrutinizing government, efficiency drops. Public payrolls bloat. Waste increases.

The cost gets passed to you—roughly $85 in added taxes per person after a county loses one of its last few papers.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Doubling down: NZAM relaunch backed by 250 managers but largest US firms decline to join The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative has formally confirmed its relaunch, with British, European and Australasian managers now dominating the network

Perhaps bigger is not always better?

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Powering through war: how wind farms became a symbol of Ukrainian resilience - Net Zero Investor - Net Zero Investor Net Zero Investor‘s mission is to provide written, streamed and in-person content that will benefit investors’ net-zero journeys.

Energy security is one of the key arguments for continued fossil fuel investment. But in Ukraine, wind energy is proving to be a lot more resilient to Russian attacks than oil and gas infrastructure as my colleague Atharva reports www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Oil and gas assets account for the bulk of BP’s losses Ahead of BP’s full-year results due tomorrow morning, new research suggests that fossil fuel holdings, rather than renewables, account for the majority of the company’s losses and impairments.

Oil giant will be releasing it's results tomorrow morning. Here's an important bit of context to consider.
www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Today another group of investors set out their resolution for the BP AGM. It's interesting that the rhetoric shifts from Paris alignment to capital discipline. The method worked at Woodside as I set out here..

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Exclusive: LPPI set to open Bristol office amid Brunel consolidation - Room151 LPPI, which announced in September last year that it will take on the Devon, Avon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall, and Environment Agency Pension Funds, is

Interesting new development for LGPS funds..

www.room151.co.uk/local-govern...

Service providers net zero alliance ceases activities as standalone initiative The NZFPA has announced a decision to ‘reorganise’. In a statement, UNPRI said members will continue their target setting activities independently

The timing of this is rather ominous.. tomorrow is the deadline for NZAM's great rebrand

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

European pension funds: Assemble! Or not. Up to you really

Interesting times.. One third of US debt is held by foreign investors. The biggest foreign owners of US debt (China and Japan ) are unlikely to move though.

www.ft.com/content/452b... via @FT

Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.

Climate resolutions at Shell and BP AGMs shift focus from Paris alignment to shareholder value Investors filing climate resolutions at Shell and BP are reframing the debate, demanding a financial case for oil and gas expansion rather than Paris alignment

Investors have filed climate resolutions for the upcoming AGM's at Shell and BP. With global oil prices dropping, the focus has shifted from Paris alignment to shareholder value.

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Climate fiduciaries: part III – mind the model gap Climate models help pension funds estimate the financial costs of climate change, they are often imperfect. Do pension funds have a fiduciary obligation to critically engage with the models they adopt...

There's a lot of climate risk modelling out there. Not all of it makes sense. Do pension funds have a fiduciary obligation to critically engage with the climate risk models they adopt?

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

What lies behind Trump’s retro oil plundering? Doubling down on fossil fuels threatens to leave the US floundering in the AI race with China

Gillian Tett is spot on: Trump's doubling down on oil is economic self sabotage - www.ft.com/content/572b... via @FT

JP Morgan replaces proxy advisers with AI-based research tool - Net Zero Investor - Net Zero Investor Net Zero Investor‘s mission is to provide written, streamed and in-person content that will benefit investors’ net-zero journeys.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out.
www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

UN climate chief warns US withdrawal from IPCC, UNFCCC a 'colossal own goal' - Net Zero Investor - Net Zero Investor Net Zero Investor‘s mission is to provide written, streamed and in-person content that will benefit investors’ net-zero journeys.

The White House move to withdraw from leading international climate bodies has been criticised by UN officials as a 'colossal own goal'
www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Readers of @netzeroinvestor.net will have noticed our site includes a ticker with global emissions as reported by @climate.noaa.gov we consider this a key benchmark for progress. I have just updated it for 2025, emissions have gone up again. As a planet, we've got serious catching up to do now.

Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Israeli army targeting my Alma Mater with live ammunition injuring 11 students. They won't succeed. In the words of Rafeef Ziadah: "we teach life, sir."

Ah nothing like a good old-fashioned military intervention to get stock markets going.. On a more serious note, it seems unlikely Chevron will benefit a lot from this in the medium term from all I've read so far.

Climate fiduciaries: part I – the climate prisoner’s dilemma Do pension funds have a fiduciary duty to make climate-aware investment decisions? Some members are prepared to take the question to court. In this three-part series, NZI investigates the pieces of th...

Last year, several pension members took their funds to court over failures to factor in climate change. My colleague Atharva predicts 2026 might be the year where climate change will be recognised as part of fiduciary duty.

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Very true, and perhaps this applies to pretty much anything? A a-political approach to economics, history etc is very often a defence of the status quo isn't it?

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating the beginning of a two week holiday in a joint Somali /Iranian/ Arabic / Pakistani / British restaurant.. This place would send Nigel's blood pressure through the roof. Merry Christmas everyone!

Celebrating the beginning of a two week holiday in a joint Somali /Iranian/ Arabic / Pakistani / British restaurant.. This place would send Nigel's blood pressure through the roof. Merry Christmas everyone!

BP’s changing of the guard: Woodside 2.0? Meg O’Neill, will take on the role of chief executive of BP in April 2026. O’Neill, previously served as chief executive of Woodside Energy, was at the helm during an era of widening investor disconte...

My colleague Atharva has taken a look at BP's leadership reshuffle

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

We've had weeks of angry protests outside asylum centers over alleged violence against women and girls, when someone actually proposes to do something about sexual violence without linking it to race bating, suddenly the interest drops. It's almost like it was never about women in the first place.

LGPS turns to government over Gaza human rights concerns - Room151 Local government pension funds, which continue to face public scrutiny over their exposure to companies linked to human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian

Behind a paywall but I've written a piece on the pressures facing the LGPS around divestments from assets funding the #genocide in #gaza featuring research from @bystandersnomore.bsky.social

www.room151.co.uk/local-govern...

NYC comptroller drops recommendation to divest from PanAgora - Net Zero Investor - Net Zero Investor Net Zero Investor‘s mission is to provide written, streamed and in-person content that will benefit investors’ net-zero journeys.

Turns out, divestment isn't inevitable. @bradlander.bsky.social has dropped a recommendation to divest from quant firm PanAgora, following constructive engagement. However, the BlackRock and Fidelity divestment is still on the cards.
www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

US Money Managers Strike Private Deals in Fight to Keep Mandates US money managers are working on private arrangements to stem a wave of defections by sustainability-focused clients in Europe’s €6 trillion ($7 trillion) pensions market.

Really interesting twist to the asset owner divestment saga, great piece by Frances Schwartzkopff and Leonard Kehnscherper
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AP7 excludes BP, Woodside, Chevron and TotalEnergies over Paris alignment concerns AP7, Sweden’s largest public pension fund, has adopted widespread exclusions of major fossil fuel companies, raising concerns that these firms are no longer aligned with the Paris Agreement

AP7, Sweden’s largest public pension fund, has adopted widespread exclusions of major fossil fuel companies.

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

BlackRock loses €5bn Dutch equity mandate over climate misalignment US manager BlackRock has lost its second major Dutch equity mandate, amid a sustained push by asset owners to hold managers to account on climate change

BlackRock has just lost a major Dutch pension fund mandate, another indication that asset owners plan to hold their managers accountable on climate.

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...

Licence to drill: bond market exposure to the coming LNG bubble As major energy firms ramp up LNG investment, the sector’s dependence on debt is prompting renewed scrutiny of the financial risks for bond investors involved

In my latest piece for @netzeroinvestor.net I take a closer look at the role of bond markets in financing the scaleup of #LNG in the US

www.netzeroinvestor.net/news-and-vie...