Leslie Hook

Leslie Hook covers the intersection of heavy industry, climate policy and the energy transition for the Financial Times, following how global resource companies respond to pressure to cut emissions while still delivering returns. Her reporting centres on the business decisions that reshape carbon-intensive sectors, from coal and oil to metals and minerals needed for cleaner technologies. She combines deal-driven news with deeper explanatory pieces that show how boardroom choices in extractive industries reverberate through markets, communities and the climate.

Global mining and resource companies

Hook focuses closely on the world’s largest mining and resource groups, tracking how they reorganise portfolios, exit legacy assets and invest in new lines of business. Coverage of transactions such as Anglo American’s multibillion-dollar sale of its Australian coal operations sits alongside stories on restructuring, spin-offs and shareholder-driven strategic reviews. She returns to the same set of major producers and commodity traders over time, documenting shifts in leadership, governance battles and how investor pressure shapes decisions on where to deploy capital. Her pieces often link individual corporate moves to broader patterns in commodity markets, such as swings in demand for iron ore, copper, coal or critical minerals.

Within this beat she pays attention to operational and reputational risk as much as balance sheets. Stories examine how mining groups manage safety, environmental liabilities and community relations while pushing to expand or modernise projects. When companies confront setbacks—regulatory delays, cost overruns, project write-downs—she situates those events in the context of long commodity cycles and competing strategic visions inside the sector. The result is a body of work that helps readers see mining and resource producers as active agents in the transition, rather than static background players.

Energy transition and the future of coal

A recurring thread in Hook’s reporting is how fossil fuel businesses, particularly coal, adapt under tightening climate targets. She follows asset sales, mine closures and restructuring plans that mark the gradual retreat from thermal coal, but also highlights where production remains entrenched because of energy security concerns or strong regional demand. Her stories explain how disposals, joint ventures and offloads to private owners shift—not eliminate—emissions, probing who ultimately holds high-carbon assets as listed groups seek cleaner profiles.

Beyond coal, she tracks how resource companies position themselves in the broader energy transition, from investments in metals for batteries and renewables to experiments with hydrogen, carbon capture and other low‑carbon technologies. Her coverage draws out the tension between near-term profitability from fossil fuels and long-term ambitions to align with Paris-aligned pathways. She often sets individual company strategies against regulatory developments and climate science benchmarks, making clear where corporate plans are moving in step with, or lagging behind, global climate goals.

Climate policy, regulation and corporate strategy

Hook also reports on the policy and regulatory landscape that frames corporate decisions in energy and resources. She covers climate legislation, emissions trading schemes, carbon pricing and disclosure rules, and then connects these developments directly to how companies plan investments and manage risk. When governments tighten rules on emissions, permitting or reporting, her pieces explore how that alters project economics, access to capital and boardroom debates about future growth.

Her work often links international climate diplomacy and domestic policy shifts to concrete business consequences. Coverage of global climate summits, net zero pledges and new standards for climate reporting is paired with analysis of how these commitments are translated into capital spending, divestments or changes to executive incentives. By following both the regulatory side and the corporate response, she provides a joined-up view of how policy shapes the trajectory of carbon-intensive industries.

Deals-led reporting with data and on-the-ground detail

Across her beat, Hook’s stories combine the pace of financial news with the context of longer-form business reporting. Earnings coverage, deal announcements and investor updates are unpacked with data on production volumes, emissions profiles and project pipelines, giving readers a clear sense of scale and materiality. She frequently incorporates charts, figures and comparative metrics to show how one company’s strategy stacks up against peers.

Her reporting also draws on interviews with executives, investors, analysts and local stakeholders, bringing boardroom decisions into contact with conditions in mining regions and energy hubs. Feature pieces take time to describe the physical and social setting of projects, while still anchored in the numbers that matter to business readers: capital costs, payback periods, price assumptions and regulatory timelines. The through-line is a consistent focus on how the global push to decarbonise is changing what it means to run a profitable resources business.

Before taking on her current brief at the Financial Times, Hook reported for other international newspapers on business, technology and environmental issues in both Asia and North America. That experience informs a cross-border perspective in her current work, where supply chains, policy frameworks and capital flows routinely span multiple regions. Her coverage of business and climate sits at the point where global markets, government action and environmental limits meet, making her a key guide to the corporate side of the energy transition.