From The Guardian:
Norway’s parliament has formally endorsed the move to sell off coal investments from its $900bn sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest.
It is the largest fossil fuel divestment yet, affecting 122 companies across the world, and marking a new success for the fast-growing and UN-backed climate change campaign.
…A dozen coal-related companies on China are set to lose their Norwegian investment, as are eight in Japan and five in Australia.
“This is the biggest divestment from coal in history and it should pave the way for other investors and countries to follow suit,” says Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace in Norway.
“The significance of the Norway decision is that, because of their size and reach, this will act as a major signal for other investors to follow. This will certainly create a wave,” said Mark Campanale, founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, which has pioneered analysis of the financial risks of fossil fuels.
Not if King Coal has its way, from New Daily:
“The industry needs to find its voice,” Whitehaven managing director Paul Flynn said.
…How will the coal industry fight its corner against these “minority groups” and “niche parties”? By reminding the public that coal is “important, necessary and good”.
“Everyone needs to understand that coal is essential for energy security going forward,” Mr Flynn said.
“The idea that you can provide wind or solar for billions of people is a false proposition. I think the facts will bear it out but we need to play our part in that.”
Coal is fighting dumb. It’s already lost the battle of “facts” (except with a few troglodytes). You can’t take on all of credible science and expect to win in the long run.
It should have moved inside the tent, embraced carbon pricing and invested all of those wasted PR dollars on real technological progress.
By fighting dirty it has birthed the “anything but coal” movement instead, and will now carry more than its fair share of global carbon abatement. As investment dollars dry up and the value of assets declines, so too will new power stations and mines.
