The Week in Business: Hot Topic at Davos

What’s Next? (Jan. 19-25)

Silent Screen

Apple is gearing up for a legal fight with the Justice Department to defend the privacy of its customers’ iPhones — or more specifically, two phones used by the gunman behind a deadly shooting last month at a naval base in Florida. Federal authorities are demanding that Apple unlock the man’s phones for the sake of public safety. But the tech giant says it is committed to protecting its users’ information, stating that Americans “do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations.” The conflict puts Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, in a tricky spot if he wants to stay in Mr. Trump’s good graces. Their alliance has kept Apple relatively unscathed by trade tensions with China — so far.

Cleaner Greenbacks

BlackRock, the giant money management corporation that oversees nearly $7 trillion in investments, announced that it “will make investment decisions with environmental sustainability as a core goal” moving forward. Which is a little rich, considering it’s also a major investor in fossil fuel companies like Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil firm. But BlackRock’s chief executive, Larry Fink, said that pressuring companies to be greener could still have a major effect on the market, and hopes other money managers will follow suit. He also said that the decision wasn’t a political one, but rather a response to investor demand.

Warm-up Act

Larry Fink will also give a talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Following the release of new data showing that 2019 was the second-hottest year in recorded history, the global warming crisis will be one of the summit’s central topics. Which could lead to quite the standoff, especially as Mr. Trump — who has openly scorned climate change science — is among the attendees, along with the 17-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Also on the speaking docket: Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, which pledged this past Thursday to erase its carbon footprint and invest $1 billion in carbon removal technology.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/19/business/with-interest-davos-trade-trump-climate.html?emc=rss&partner=rss