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Divest from the Carbon Bubble? Reviewing the Implications and Limitations of Fossil Fuel Divestment for Institutional Investors

Author

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  • Justin Ritchie

    (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada)

  • Hadi Dowlatabadi

    (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada)

Abstract

Climate change policies that rapidly curtail fossil fuel consumption will lead to structural adjustments in the business operations of the energy industry. Due to an uncertain global climate and energy policy framework, it is difficult to determine the magnitude of fossil energy reserves that could remain unused. This ambiguity has the potential to create losses for investors holding securities associated with any aspects of the fossil fuel industry. Carbon bubble risk is understood as financial exposure to fossil fuel companies that would experience impairments from assets stranded by policy, economics or innovation. A grassroots divestment campaign is pressuring institutions sell their fossil fuel company holdings. By September 2014, investors had responded by pledging to divest US $50 billion of portfolios. Though divestment campaigns are primarily focused on a moral and political rationale, they also regularly frame divesting as a strategy for mitigating stranded asset risk. We review aspects of the divestment movement alongside the context of carbon bubble risk. Several common hypotheses on reducing stranded carbon asset exposure through divestment are critically examined. We find that institutional investors are limited in their ability to reduce exposure to carbon through divesting and that the financial sector is likely to absorb many ¡®fossil free¡¯ funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Justin Ritchie & Hadi Dowlatabadi, 2015. "Divest from the Carbon Bubble? Reviewing the Implications and Limitations of Fossil Fuel Divestment for Institutional Investors," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 5, pages 59-80, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bap:journl:150205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Al Ayoubi, Khalil & Enjolras, Geoffroy, 2022. "Does disinvestment from fossil fuels reduce the financial performance of responsible sovereign wealth funds?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Trinks, Arjan & Scholtens, Bert & Mulder, Machiel & Dam, Lammertjan, 2017. "Divesting Fossil Fuels: The Implications for Investment Portfolios," MPRA Paper 76383, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sébastien Duchêne & Adrien Nguyen-Huu & Dimitri Dubois & Marc Willinger, 2021. "Why finance professionals hold green and brown assets? A lab-in-the-field experiment [Pourquoi investir dans le vert et le brun ? Une expérience sur des professionnels de la finance]," Working Papers hal-03285376, HAL.
    4. Muhammad Qayyum & Yuyuan Yu & Mir Muhammad Nizamani & Saqlain Raza & Minhaj Ali & Shijie Li, 2023. "Financial Instability and CO2 Emissions in India: Evidence from ARDL Bound Testing Approach," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(4), pages 808-829, June.
    5. HOROBEȚ Alexandra & BULAI Vlad Cosmin, 2019. "Assessing the Local Developmental Impact of Hydrocarbon Exploitation in a Mature Region: A Random Forest Approach," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 02, June.
    6. Suryadeepto Nag & Siddhartha P. Chakrabarty & Sankarshan Basu, 2021. "Single Event Transition Risk: A Measure for Long Term Carbon Exposure," Papers 2107.06518, arXiv.org, revised May 2022.
    7. Bebbington, Jan & Schneider, Thomas & Stevenson, Lorna & Fox, Alison, 2020. "Fossil fuel reserves and resources reporting and unburnable carbon: Investigating conflicting accounts," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Lukas Benz & Stefan Paulus & Julia Scherer & Janik Syryca & Stefan Trück, 2021. "Investors' carbon risk exposure and their potential for shareholder engagement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 282-301, January.
    9. Dylan Gibson & Leslie A. Duram, 2020. "Shifting Discourse on Climate and Sustainability: Key Characteristics of the Higher Education Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Birte Ewers & Jonathan F. Donges & Jobst Heitzig & Sonja Peterson, 2019. "Divestment may burst the carbon bubble if investors' beliefs tip to anticipating strong future climate policy," Papers 1902.07481, arXiv.org.
    11. Rohleder, Martin & Wilkens, Marco & Zink, Jonas, 2022. "The effects of mutual fund decarbonization on stock prices and carbon emissions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Maria Folqué & Elena Escrig‐Olmedo & Teresa Corzo Santamaría, 2021. "Sustainable development and financial system: Integrating ESG risks through sustainable investment strategies in a climate change context," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 876-890, September.
    13. Polzin, Friedemann, 2017. "Mobilizing private finance for low-carbon innovation – A systematic review of barriers and solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 525-535.
    14. Daugaard, Dan & Kent, Danielle & Servátka, Maroš & Zhang, Le, 2023. "Optimistic framing increases responsible investment of investment professionals," MPRA Paper 119677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Trinks, Arjan & Scholtens, Bert & Mulder, Machiel & Dam, Lammertjan, 2017. "Divesting Fossil Fuels," Research Report 17001-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green investing; Climate change; Carbon bubble; Fossil fuel divestment; Low carbon economy; Financed emissions; Decarbonized portfolio; Unburnable carbon; Oil and gas equities; Stranded assets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • G00 - Financial Economics - - General - - - General

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