Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Why the divestment movement is missing the mark

Despite a strong media presence and pledges from high-profile investors, the divestment movement has largely failed to mobilize financial markets in the war on carbon. Divestment 2.0 will require major tweaking to more effectively redirect the flow of capital and catalyse greater corporate climate action.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. McKibben, B. Global warming’s terrifying new math. Rolling Stone (19 July, 2012).

  2. Divestment commitments. GoFossilFree https://gofossilfree.org/divestment/commitments (2020).

  3. Bergman, N. Sustainability 10, 2529 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rusbridger, A. Nature 520, 265 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tollefson, J. Nature 521, 16–17 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Good, A. Understanding the Emissions Challenge: An Assessment of Integrated Oil’s Efforts to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Intensity (Morningstar, 2020).

  7. Gautam, M., Pandey, B. & Agrawal, M. Carbon Footprint of Aluminum Production: Emissions and Mitigation, in Environmental Carbon Footprints (Ed. Muthu, S. S.) (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2018).

  8. Braungardt, S., van den Bergh, J. & Dunlop, T. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 50, 191–200 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kolchin, K. Who Owns Stocks in America? (Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, 2019).

  10. Bhutta, N. et al. Federal Reserve Bulletin Vol. 106 (2020).

  11. Ansar, A., Caldecott, B. & Tilbury, J. Stranded Assets and the Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign: What Does Divestment Mean for the Valuation of Fossil Fuel Assets? (University of Oxford, 2013).

  12. Edgecliff-Johnson, A., Nauman, B. Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill. Financial Times (17 September, 2019).

  13. Sinclair, T. J. The New Masters of Capital: American Bond Rating Agencies and the Politics of Creditworthiness (Cornell Univ. Press, 2014).

  14. Companies scores. CDP https://www.cdp.net/en/companies/companies-scores (2020).

  15. Temperature ratings. CDP https://www.cdp.net/en/investor/temperature-ratings (2020).

  16. Edwards, I., Yapp, K., Mackay, S. & Mackey, B. Nat. Clim. Change 10, 588–591 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Felix Mormann.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mormann, F. Why the divestment movement is missing the mark. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 1067–1068 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00950-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00950-2

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing