Investors dumping coal and oil

More Than $3.4 Trillion in Assets Vow to Divest From Fossil Fuels

The list of institutions committed to ridding their portfolios of at least some fossil fuel interests has surged in recent months, organizers say.

BY ZAHRA HIRJI, INSIDECLIMATE NEWS

More than 500 institutions representing about $3.4 trillion in assets have agreed to sell their investments in fossil fuel companies, divestment leaders announced on Wednesday, a nearly 24 percent increase since the movement last announced its commitment list in September.

European insurer Allianz, the city of Oslo, Norway, and the London School of Economics are among the latest institutions, communities and individuals to pledge to divest at least partially from coal, oil and natural gas companies, members of the green group 350.org and nonprofit Divest-Invest said at a press conference in Paris.

The campaign began in earnest in 2014 with 181 institutions and more than 650 individuals representing at least $50 billion in assets, and has gathered participants steadily since.

"A growing number of investors, representing a growing number of capital do not want to be associated with [the fossil fuel] industry any longer," May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, said at the press event. "It demonstrates that investors are taking climate risk extremely seriously."

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