The finance perspective on fossil fuel divestment
Abstract
This paper reviews the fossil fuel divestment literature. It argues that the origin of climate change is in the ‘carbon shield’, meaning that fossil fuel firms are not held sufficiently responsible for their externalities. By divesting from these firms, investors do not want to be complicit. The literature differentiates three dimensions in the fossil fuel divestment debate: Justification, Impact, and Agent. The first discusses the justification for divesting, whereas the second discusses the impact of divesting on financial performance and/or emissions, and the third relates to how to accomplish divesting and its consequences for individual agents. The review concludes that the number of perspectives used to analyze the divestment debate is rising, that the environmental and financial impact of divestment is very limited, and that a wide variety of agents relate to divesting from fossil fuel.
Citation
Plantinga , A & Scholtens , B 2024 , ' The finance perspective on fossil fuel divestment ' , Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability , vol. 66 , 101394 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101394
Publication
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1877-3435Type
Journal article
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.