The effects of the fossil fuel divestment campaign on stock returns

Halcoussis, Dennis; Lowenberg, Anton D.

doi:10.1016/j.najef.2018.07.009

Cited by 28 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…By encouraging investors to reduce their financial interests in the fossil fuel industry, divestment efforts both remove the social licence to operate and guard against the risk of losses due to stranded assets in a world in which demand for fossil fuels rapidly decreases. 194,195 This indicator tracks the total global value of funds divested from fossil fuels and the value of divested funds coming from health institutions by use of data provided by 350.org, with annual data and full methodology described in the appendix (pp 126-127). 196 From 2008 to the end of 2019, 1157 organisations, with cumulative assets worth at least $11•51 trillion, have committed to fossil fuel divestment (figure 24).…”

Section: Indicator 424: Funds Divested From Fossil Fuels-headline Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises

et al. 2021

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Section: Indicator 424: Funds Divested From Fossil Fuels-headline Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises

et al. 2021

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“…Anecdotal evidence of the consequences of sustainability preferences shifts in the financial market over time are the rapid growth of sustainable (green) investing (GSIA 2018) and the massive fossil fuel (brown) disinvestment campaign (Halcoussis and Lowenberg 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Concerns and the Performance of Green Versus Brown Stocks

et al. 2020

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We empirically test the prediction of Pastor, Stambaugh, and Taylor 2020 that green firms can outperform brown firms when climate change concerns strengthen unexpectedly for S&P 500 companies over the period January 2010 -June 2018. To capture unexpected increases in climate change concerns, we construct a Media Climate Change Concern index using climate change-related news published by major U.S. newspapers. We find a negative relationship between the firms' exposure to the Media Climate Change Concerns index and the level of the firm's greenhouse gas emission per unit of revenue. This result implies that when concerns about climate change rise unexpectedly, green firms' stock price increases, while brown firms' stock price decreases. Further, using topic modeling, we analyze which type of climate change news drives this relationship. We identify five themes that have an effect on green vs. brown stock returns. Some of those themes can be related to change in investors' expectations about the future cash-flow of green vs. brown firms, while others cannot. This result implies that the relationship between concern and green vs. brown stock returns arises from both investors updating their expectations about the future cash-flows of green and brown firms and changes in investors' sustainability taste.

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“…Too often these prognostications rely on the undoubtedly impressive growth trajectory of installed solar and wind capacity and the increasing cost-competitiveness of these energy sources as evidence of immanent success. Likewise, they risk overestimating the efficacy of increasing pressures exerted by policy makers, environmental activists and investors concerned about 'stranded assets' to force the fossil fuel industries to become active participants in, rather than obstacles to, this transition to a low-carbon global economy based on renewables [62].…”

Section: Th Century Lessons For 21 St Century Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%