Climate-Focused ETFs Hold Firms Dragging Feet on Emissions Cuts

At least five new exchange-traded funds were launched this year focused on the goals of the Paris Climate Accord, which calls for cutting global net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Yet some of these funds’ holdings don’t display high levels of environmental commitment.

Many of the net zero ETFs in the US hold stocks of companies that are currently producing high levels of emissions, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF, and that project they won’t meet full reduction for another 28 years. That’s not until the very end of the Agreement’s timetable to limit global temperature rise ...