Financial sector ‘not moving fast enough’ to divest from fossil fuels, Mark Carney says
Climate breakdown could render investments held by millions of people “worthless”, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England has warned.
Mark Carney suggested the financial sector had not yet woken up to the looming crisis and was “not moving fast enough” to divest from fossil fuels.
Mr Carney – who will become the UN’s special envoy for climate action and finance in February 2020 – made the comments to the BBC’s Today programme for a segment guest-edited by Greta Thunberg and to be broadcast on Monday.
Asked whether pension funds should divest from fossil fuels even if the returns currently appear attractive, he said:
“Well that hasn’t been the case, but they could make that argument.
“They need to make the argument – to be clear about why is that going to be the case if a substantial proportion of those assets are going to be worthless.”
“If we were to burn all those oil and gases there’s no way we would meet carbon budgets. Up to 80 per cent of coal assets will be stranded, [and] up to half of developed oil reserves.”
Read more: Independent
