SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Longview Power Plant, a coal-fired plant, stands on August 21, 2018 in Maidsville, West Virginia. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
As Trump Pushes Planetary Destruction at COP24, Investors Holding $32 Trillion Demand Bold Climate Action
'The transition to a low carbon economy presents numerous opportunities to create value, and investors who ignore the changing world do so at their own peril'
Dec 09, 2018
As a new report reveals (pdf) that asset management behemoth BlackRock is continuing to finance "the destruction of our planet"--and the Trump administration pushes that path at the United Nations climate talks--hundreds of global investors holding $32 trillion in assets called for world leaders to commit to greater action to address the climate crisis.
"The global shift to clean energy is underway, but much more needs to be done by governments to accelerate the low carbon transition and to improve the resilience of our economy, society, and the financial system to climate risks," a statement signed by 415 investors declared Monday as the COP24 climate summit was underway.
The signers, including HSBC Global Asset Management, the New York State Comptroller, and Seattle City Employees' Retirement System, warned of the potentially catastrophic "ambition gap" between the Paris climate accord goal of limiting warming to below 2@ Celsius and what countries have committed to doing.
"Indeed," an accompanying briefing paper adds, "the full implementation of current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to an unacceptably high temperature increase potentially in the range of 2.9 to 3.4 degC relative to pre-industrial levels. This is of great concern for investors, as global warming at that scale would have large and detrimental impacts on global economies, society, and investment portfolios, now and into the future. Policy makers need to close this gap urgently."
The statement coordinated by the Investor Agenda--initially launched in June and now boasting a record number of backers--lays out three main areas for urgent action:
Achieving the Paris climate accord goals including a just transition to a low-carbon economy; speeding up private sector investment into the low-carbon transition, including a meaningful price on carbon and phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and global phase-out of coal; and a commitment to improving climate-related financial reporting.
Notably, the fresh call was made as the Trump administration continued to push coal at the U.N. climate conference--a call met with laughter and chants of "Keep it in the ground" by indigenous and youth climate leaders on Monday.
"Despite the misguided policies of the Trump Administration, global efforts to address the very real threat climate risk presents to the economy, financial markets, and investment returns are ongoing," said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who's responsible for the state's $207 billion public pension fund.
"The transition to a low carbon economy presents numerous opportunities to create value, and investors who ignore the changing world do so at their own peril," added DiNapoli.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As a new report reveals (pdf) that asset management behemoth BlackRock is continuing to finance "the destruction of our planet"--and the Trump administration pushes that path at the United Nations climate talks--hundreds of global investors holding $32 trillion in assets called for world leaders to commit to greater action to address the climate crisis.
"The global shift to clean energy is underway, but much more needs to be done by governments to accelerate the low carbon transition and to improve the resilience of our economy, society, and the financial system to climate risks," a statement signed by 415 investors declared Monday as the COP24 climate summit was underway.
The signers, including HSBC Global Asset Management, the New York State Comptroller, and Seattle City Employees' Retirement System, warned of the potentially catastrophic "ambition gap" between the Paris climate accord goal of limiting warming to below 2@ Celsius and what countries have committed to doing.
"Indeed," an accompanying briefing paper adds, "the full implementation of current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to an unacceptably high temperature increase potentially in the range of 2.9 to 3.4 degC relative to pre-industrial levels. This is of great concern for investors, as global warming at that scale would have large and detrimental impacts on global economies, society, and investment portfolios, now and into the future. Policy makers need to close this gap urgently."
The statement coordinated by the Investor Agenda--initially launched in June and now boasting a record number of backers--lays out three main areas for urgent action:
Achieving the Paris climate accord goals including a just transition to a low-carbon economy; speeding up private sector investment into the low-carbon transition, including a meaningful price on carbon and phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and global phase-out of coal; and a commitment to improving climate-related financial reporting.
Notably, the fresh call was made as the Trump administration continued to push coal at the U.N. climate conference--a call met with laughter and chants of "Keep it in the ground" by indigenous and youth climate leaders on Monday.
"Despite the misguided policies of the Trump Administration, global efforts to address the very real threat climate risk presents to the economy, financial markets, and investment returns are ongoing," said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who's responsible for the state's $207 billion public pension fund.
"The transition to a low carbon economy presents numerous opportunities to create value, and investors who ignore the changing world do so at their own peril," added DiNapoli.
As a new report reveals (pdf) that asset management behemoth BlackRock is continuing to finance "the destruction of our planet"--and the Trump administration pushes that path at the United Nations climate talks--hundreds of global investors holding $32 trillion in assets called for world leaders to commit to greater action to address the climate crisis.
"The global shift to clean energy is underway, but much more needs to be done by governments to accelerate the low carbon transition and to improve the resilience of our economy, society, and the financial system to climate risks," a statement signed by 415 investors declared Monday as the COP24 climate summit was underway.
The signers, including HSBC Global Asset Management, the New York State Comptroller, and Seattle City Employees' Retirement System, warned of the potentially catastrophic "ambition gap" between the Paris climate accord goal of limiting warming to below 2@ Celsius and what countries have committed to doing.
"Indeed," an accompanying briefing paper adds, "the full implementation of current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to an unacceptably high temperature increase potentially in the range of 2.9 to 3.4 degC relative to pre-industrial levels. This is of great concern for investors, as global warming at that scale would have large and detrimental impacts on global economies, society, and investment portfolios, now and into the future. Policy makers need to close this gap urgently."
The statement coordinated by the Investor Agenda--initially launched in June and now boasting a record number of backers--lays out three main areas for urgent action:
Achieving the Paris climate accord goals including a just transition to a low-carbon economy; speeding up private sector investment into the low-carbon transition, including a meaningful price on carbon and phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and global phase-out of coal; and a commitment to improving climate-related financial reporting.
Notably, the fresh call was made as the Trump administration continued to push coal at the U.N. climate conference--a call met with laughter and chants of "Keep it in the ground" by indigenous and youth climate leaders on Monday.
"Despite the misguided policies of the Trump Administration, global efforts to address the very real threat climate risk presents to the economy, financial markets, and investment returns are ongoing," said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who's responsible for the state's $207 billion public pension fund.
"The transition to a low carbon economy presents numerous opportunities to create value, and investors who ignore the changing world do so at their own peril," added DiNapoli.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.