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Shadows of Divestment: The Complications of Diverting Fossil Fuel Finance

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  • Kate J. Neville

Abstract

This forum article offers a critical assessment of the strategy of divestment from fossil fuels as climate action, considering the unintended or spillover consequences of reinvestment in other industries. With a focus on two sectors—agriculture and renewable energy—it examines how reinvestment to achieve competitive financial returns might exacerbate non-emissions-based environmental and social damage. The analysis draws on established and emerging research in global environmental politics on the political economy of commodity trade to sound a cautionary note about divestment, arguing that the strategy can maintain the status quo as readily as it can disrupt systems of power. A focus on divestment addresses a crucial immediate problem, but without a critical look at reinvestment and the current political economic order, activists could be reinforcing the same systems of environmental and social damage they are aiming to dismantle.

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  • Kate J. Neville, 2020. "Shadows of Divestment: The Complications of Diverting Fossil Fuel Finance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 3-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:20:y:2020:i:2:p:3-11
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/glep_a_00555
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Baines, Joseph & Hager, Sandy Brian, 2021. "Commodity Traders in a Storm: Financialization, Corporate Power and Ecological Crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar.
    2. Baines, Joseph & Hager, Sandy Brian, 2022. "From Passive Owners to Planet Savers? Asset Managers, Carbon Majors and the Limits of Sustainable Finance," EconStor Preprints 249674, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Devon Reynolds & David Ciplet, 2023. "Transforming Socially Responsible Investment: Lessons from Environmental Justice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 53-69, February.

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