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Carbon as Investment Risk—The Influence of Fossil Fuel Divestment on Decision Making at Germany’s Main Power Providers

Author

Listed:
  • Dagmar Kiyar

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany)

  • Bettina B. F. Wittneben

    (Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
    Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK)

Abstract

German electricity giants have recently taken high-level decisions to remove selected fossil fuel operations from their company portfolio. This new corporate strategy could be seen as a direct response to the growing global influence of the fossil fuel divestment campaign. In this paper we ask whether the divestment movement currently exerts significant influence on decision-making at the top four German energy giants—E.On, RWE, Vattenfall and EnBW. We find that this is not yet the case. After describing the trajectory of the global fossil fuel divestment campaign, we outline four alternative influences on corporate strategy that, currently, are having a greater impact than the divestment movement on Germany’s power sector. In time, however, clear political decisions and strong civil support may increase the significance of climate change concerns in the strategic management of the German electricity giants.

Suggested Citation

  • Dagmar Kiyar & Bettina B. F. Wittneben, 2015. "Carbon as Investment Risk—The Influence of Fossil Fuel Divestment on Decision Making at Germany’s Main Power Providers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:9:p:9620-9639:d:55265
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christophe McGlade & Paul Ekins, 2015. "The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2 °C," Nature, Nature, vol. 517(7533), pages 187-190, January.
    2. [multiple or corporate authorship]., 2014. "CASE annual report 2013," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58040, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Darlene Himick, 2023. "When Aging and Climate Change Are Brought Together: Fossil Fuel Divestment and a Changing Dispositive of Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Sylwia Lorenc & Tomasz Leśniak & Arkadiusz Kustra & Maria Sierpińska, 2023. "Evolution of Business Models of Mining and Energy Sector Companies according to Current Market Trends," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Truzaar Dordi & Olaf Weber, 2019. "The Impact of Divestment Announcements on the Share Price of Fossil Fuel Stocks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Vincenzo Dovì & Antonella Battaglini, 2015. "Energy Policy and Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach to a Global Problem," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-8, November.
    5. Yeltsin Tafur & Eric Lilford & Roberto F. Aguilera, 2022. "Assessing the risk of foreign investment within the petroleum sector of South America," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(6), pages 1-32, June.

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