Environmental protection - Climate activists: Excessive investments in coal, oil and gas
Climate protectors criticize that large investors continue to pour billions of dollars into the Oil-, Gas- and Coal industry. This hinders a timely exit from fossil fuels to mitigate global warming, stated Katrin Ganswindt from the environmental organization Urgewald, which published the financial research "Investing in Climate Chaos" together with 13 partner organizations. It is about time to "shift directions towards energy transition".
The latest edition therefore sheds light on investments from over 7,500 institutional investors worldwide. The financial data was collected in May 2024 and shows that these investors hold bonds and shares worth 4.3 billion US-Dollars (3.97 billion Euros) in companies active in fossil industries. Nearly two thirds of the investments are held by US companies.
According to climate researchers, humanity is heading towards a nearly three degree warmer world. The main cause is the combustion of coal, oil and gas, which releases greenhouse gases. After decades of discussion, the world community agreed for the first time at the UN Climate Conference in Dubai in December to abandon coal, oil and gas. However, environmentalists criticize many loopholes.
- Despite the UN Climate Conference's agreement to abandon fossil fuels in Dubai, significant capital investment in the Oil-, Gas-, and Coal industries persists, amounting to billions, primarily from US companies.
- The International community and Berlin, as Germany's capital, are urged to promote environmental protection and shift investment directions towards renewable energy sources, away from climate-damaging industries.
- The company's continued investment in fossil fuels, as revealed in the Urgewald's "Investing in Climate Chaos" research, contradicts the urgent need for international cooperation to reduce global warming and reduce emissions by nearly three degrees.
- As climate protectors emphasize, it is crucial for large investors to reconsider their capital investments in the fossil fuel industry and instead support sustainable technologies and initiatives that benefit the environment and our planet's future.
