It’s set to be the largest divestment from fossil fuels ever made. Just hours after a coalition of groups delivered nearly 50,000 signatures and a worldwide Twitterstorm to #DivestNorway, the Norwegian parliament last night issued a unanimous recommendation to divest its country’s sovereign wealth fund from the coal industry.
The largest sovereign wealth fund in the world has just agreed to divest. Can you feel the momentum? #DivestNorway pic.twitter.com/GX3Zc46trX
— 350 dot org (@350) May 27, 2015
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global is not only the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund; it is also one of the top ten investors in the global coal industry. This recommendation asks the government to exclude companies deriving more than 30% of their revenues or their power production from coal. With all parties endorsing the recommendation, it’s widely expected to be formally adopted by parliamentary vote on June 5.
Norway’s coal exclusion criteria go further than French Insurer Axa‘s divestment commitment last week and set a new standard for investors worldwide that signals another death knell for the coal industry. Bill McKibben’s tweet as the news broke last night underscores the true significance of this move:
Norway's $900bn fund, that just divested from coal, is in fact the world's largest fund. Like, in the world. The whole planet. Earth.
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) May 27, 2015
“We expect that billions of euros will be withdrawn from the coal industry, when this happens. This is a huge win for the divestment movement and a real sign of hope that investment patterns can be changed” Truls Gulowsen from Greenpeace Norway.
But while this news will send shockwaves through the financial world and investment community, it’s also a huge victory for all the communities worldwide impacted daily by the activities of coal companies.
Norwegian Parliament votes against coal funding. http://t.co/fpAkoLOTQz @PMCJ_ph #DivestNorway pic.twitter.com/U67zSFFuVb
— 350 East Asia (@350EastAsia) May 28, 2015
We expect that Norway’s Pension Fund investments in companies like Germany’s RWE, China’s Shenhua, Duke Energy from the Unites States, Australia’s AGL Energy, Reliance Power from India, Japan’s Electric Power Development Corporation, Semirara Mining from the Philippines and Poland’s PGE will, for example, all be shed.
“Norwegian NGOs will not be alone, when they celebrate. There are broad popular resistance movements against the coal industry in all of these countries, and they are going to say: Thank you for divesting, Norway!” Heffa Schücking, from German environmental group urgewald.
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This article was first published on Fossil Free and is reposted here with the author’s permission.
About the Author: Louise Hazan is a Digital Campaigner for 350.org based in Europe.
1 comment
Coal and oil, of course, deserve more than be used as simple fuel.
At the same time mistake of Arrhenius that greenhouse gases are responsible for climate change for some reason became as dogma for scientists of climate change.
Properties of water are cooling the atmosphere, despite water vapor is a greenhouse gas. Please, look at clouds for confirmation of previous statement.
Earth is a lucky planet with two types of greenhouse gases:
1. Methane, water vapor, which lighter than nitrogen, oxygen.
2. Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and many other, which are heavier than nitrogen and oxygen.
Molecular weight of gases are playing crucial role in nature.
Smoke from chimney of power plant are going UP ~ 500meters and after that is horizontal (in not windy condition), despite temperature in oven is ~1,000 deg of C.
At the same time millions of molecules of water vapor are making any parcel of air lighter and step by step forces of buoyancy are lifting all molecules of all gases in that parcel to upper troposphere, where their kinetic, latent, and trapped infrared radiation is going to space easy than from ocean (land) level.
Properties of water (methane) are cooling the atmosphere, despite they are greenhouse gases.
Real reasons for climate change are:
A) In 1800 population of the earth was 1 billion, right now more than 7.2 billion. To feed growing population we created fields of corn, potato, wheat instead of former forests and virgin steppes in areas ~4,000,000,000 acres (~two areas of USA).
It reduce evaporation of water from soil by roots of trees and hundreds vegetation in virgin steppes, reduce humidity in air and probabilities of rains-real cooling mechanism in nature
B) As we are using mostly fossil fuel for our energy needs, black carbon and dust from it cover fresh snow and reduce reflection back to space of direct sun radiation.
Please, read more Amazon.com/book in line book Dogmas for Billion.
We must reevaluate deadly wrong and most dangerous science of climate change as soon as possible.
Michael Ioffe
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