글로벌 화석연료 산업, 지구온난화 우려로 ‘다이베스트먼트(Divestment)’ 움직임 Record $3.4 Trillion Committed to Fossil Fuel Divestment

석탄 에너지원 정책 역풍

록펠러재단,

"화석 연료 자산, 리스크로 가치 상실'

* 화석 연료 Fossil Fuel

고비율의 탄소를 포함하고 있는 화석연료에는 석탄, 석유, 천연가스가 있다.

지구 온난화에 우려로 세계적으로 투자가 감소하고 있는 추세다.

대포적인 산업시설로는 석탄화력발전소가 있다.

edited by kcontents 

케이콘텐츠 편집

지구 온난화(Global warming0에 대한 우려를 배경으로 보험회사 등의 투자가가 화석연료산업에 대한 투자에서 철수하는 ‘다이베스트먼트(Divestment)’라는 움직임이 유럽과 미국에서 확산돼 자산 규모가 500개 단체로 3조 4천억 달러(약 3,963조 원)가 된 사실이 2일 드러났다. 파리 교외에서 개최 중인 제21차 유엔기후변화협약 당사국총회(COP21)에서 환경보호단체가 보고했다. 일본을 포함해 온실효과가스의 배출이 많은 석탄을 에너지원으로 하는 정책에 대한 역풍으로 작용할 것으로 예상된다. 세계 180개국 이상에서 활동하고 있는 환경보호단체 ‘350.org’와 함께 기자회견 한 록펠러재단 관련 조직의 스테판 하인츠 이사장은 “화석 연료에 관한 자산은 리스크가 있어 가치를 상실해 나가고 있으므로 이러한 움직임이 확산되고 있다”고 말했다. 다이베스트먼트는 투자가가 사회적으로 문제가 있다고 판단한 기업의 주식 등을 매각하는 운동. 이 단체가 투자 철수를 호소해 COP21을 앞두고 보르도와 랭스 등 프랑스의 19개 도시가 투자를 중단하겠다고 표명. 스웨덴의 웁살라와 호주의 멜버른, 런던대학 계열의 대학과 유럽 최대 보험회사 알리안츠 생명도 찬동했다.【파리 교도】

 

Record $3.4 Trillion Committed to Fossil Fuel Divestment

by Thomas Schueneman on Wednesday, Dec 2nd, 2015

At a press conference on Wednesday at COP21 in Paris, representatives from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the California Senate, the World Resources Institute and the London School of Economics joined 350.org to announce that $3.4 trillion in assets are now committed to some form of divestment from fossil fuels.

May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, noted that some of that divestment is partial, divesting only from coal, oil, natural gas or some mix of the three, while other commitments are total divestment from all fossil fuels. With varying degrees of disclosure, the actual amount of money divested is difficult to track, but organizations pledging either partial or total divestment represent $3.4 trillion in assets under management.

Steven Heinz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, commented on the extraordinary acceleration of the movement in the 14 months since the fund announced its divestment plans in September of 2014, from $50 billion to $3.4 trillion.

Heinz attributes the expansion of divestment not only to its “moral imperative,” but also to the “economic rationality” of risk management — pointing to the growing number of pension funds, banks and other financial institutions increasingly divesting their portfolios away from fossil fuels.

Kevin De Leon, the president of the California senate, said that, as the seventh largest global economy, California’s move from fossil energy investment and generation proves that decoupling works, citing the state’s economic growth and shrinking emissions.

DeLeon sponsored Senate Bill 185, targeting $500 million for divestment in the state’s pension fund. The legislation follows on the 2007 mandate from the California Energy Commission barring municipal utilities from operating any coal-fired power plants.

Pascal Canfin, former Development Minister of France and senior advisor for international climate affairs at the World Resources Institute, said the growing momentum in fossil fuel divestment rests on three pillars: ethics, financial pragmatism and regulatory framework reform.

Fund managers are required to disclose risk, Canfin said, and increasing “risk of liability” in fossil fuel investment creates a strong “incentive to divest.”

Several new commitments surrounding divestment were announced today at COP21, including:

19 French cities have endorsed divestment ahead of COP21: 350.org will announce for the first time that it has secured commitments from 19 French cities, including Lille, Bordeaux, Dijon, Saint-Denis, Rannes, Ile-de-France and others.

The French parliament has endorsed divestment: On Nov. 25, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution encouraging public investors, companies (especially those in which the state owns shares) and local authorities not to invest in fossil fuels anymore. The resolution is the first step to formalizing the policy as law.

The French Ensemble Foundation will join European Divest-Invest: Jacqueline Délia Brémond, co-founder and co-chair of the French Ensemble Foundation, will announce that the foundation will join the European Divest-Invest initiative and divest its holdings from fossil fuels. Since 2004, the foundation has given over $28 million to environmental causes around the world.

Some of the most notable new announcements since Sept. 21 include:

Uppsala became the largest city in Sweden to endorse fossil fuel divestment.

Münster became the first city in Germany to divest completely from fossil fuels.

Melbourne, the capitol of Australia, committed to go fossil-free ahead of COP21. In fact, Australia has seen a seven-fold growth in the divestment movement, from two councils divesting in 2014, to 14 divesting as of now. Together, these funds represent AUD$5.5 billion in assets under management.

Oslo, the capitol of Norway, announced that it will divest its $9 billion pension fund (€8 billion) from coal, oil and gas companies, becoming the first capitol city in the world to ban investments in fossil fuels.

Dutch pension fund PFZW announced it will divest from coal companies and reduce its investments in other fossil fuel companies. The fund has €161 billion of assets under management.

The London School of Economics, one of the preeminent economics schools in the world, dropped all of its direct and indirect holdings of coal and tar sands, and all direct holdings of fossil fuel companies.

Allianz, Europe’s largest insurance company, divested €630 million of its own capital investment portfolio from coal, and is reinvesting over €4 billion into wind energy over the next six months. This is one of the largest funds to make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels. Allianz tied its announcement to COP21, making the moral and economic case for investing in cleaner technologies

APRA AMCOS, the biggest music industry organisation in the southern hemisphere, announced that it is beginning the process of divesting from all fossil fuels. APRA AMCOS distributed over $250 million in royalties to its 87,000 songwriter and composer members last year, making it a large cultural force for divestment.

The London Science Museum announced plans to dump Shell Oil as a sponsor, amidst controversy and public pressure.

In addition to the London School of Economics, five universities from the U.K. took action: Oxford Brookes University, University of the Arts London, University of Surrey and University of Sheffield divested from all fossil fuel companies; Wolfson College (Oxford University) divested from coal and tar sands. Fund manager CCLA, which manages investments for Birmingham City University, Cranfiled University, Heriot-Watt University, University of Hertfordshire, University of Portsmouth and University of Westminster excluded coal and tar sands from its investments.

The first church in Germany, the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, managing €1.8 billion, committed to drop investments in coal, oil and gas, too.

Two weeks ago, renowned economists Thomas Piketty and Tim Jackson wrote a letter in the Guardian, calling on investors to divest from fossil fuel ahead of COP21.

Image courtesy of the author.

http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/12/record-3-4-trillion-committed-fossil-fuel-divestment/

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