Sharp rise in number of investors dumping fossil fuel stocks | Financial Times

Sharp rise in number of investors dumping fossil fuel stocks | Financial Times:

The number of institutional investors committed to cutting fossil fuel stocks from their portfolios has risen from 180 in 2014 to more than 1,100 now, as activists turn up the heat on companies over climate change.

The number of fossil fuel divestments have risen dramatically since the 2015 Paris agreement on combating climate change. In 2014, investors with a total $52bn in assets under management had agreed to shed their fossil fuel holdings. Now that group represents more than $11tn in total assets, according to a report from 350.org, an environmental organisation advocating for divestment. More than 900 additional investors, including asset managers, pensions and insurers, have pledged to divest since the year before the Paris accord.

There has been a shift in the way people think about their investments’ impact, especially after the Paris agreement, said Ahmed Mokgopo, a divestment campaigner at 350.org and co-author of the report. “The divestment campaign started to question the moral legitimacy of the fossil fuel companies and we’ve definitely achieved that,” he said.