A study conducted by researchers from Harvard and the University of Chicago and published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) concluded, unsurprisingly, that divestment was a less effective approach than engagement to push companies to address climate change. Divestment does little to advance ESG goals and is, in fact, a lot messier. While …
After a months-long advocacy campaign, Harvard Forward, a controversial anti-fossil fuel coalition has secured three seats on Harvard’s Board of Overseers, raising the possibility that activists will try to subvert the independence of the school’s investment strategy and force the school to halt all investments in fossil fuels—or potentially even mutual funds holding fossil fuel …
A working paper out of the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that companies with higher emissions actually earn higher returns when containing for external factors. The paper’s findings fly in the face of the divestment campaign and its simplistic view of eliminating certain sectors over others from a portfolio based solely on narrow ESG …
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, ran an opinion piece in the Albany Union Times recently, defending the State’s pension fund investment strategy and why “solely divestment” is not an option. DiNapoli has been under siege by “divest now” proponents and climate activists who demand that the Comptroller immediately liquidate all fossil fuel-related investments, without …
Over the course of the years-long campaign, supporters of the divestment movement have changed their story several times about why it’s the preferable policy. From stigmatization of the industry, to siphoning capital from fossil fuel companies, to producing higher returns, it seems proponents put forward different reasoning depending on audience or whims of the stock …
Early this week, New York state Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, wrote about his “fiduciary responsibility” when it comes to managing New Yorkers’ pension funds, highlighting divestment’s rushed and negligent approach. In fact, DiNapoli spelled out why divestment is just not functional: “investment decisions must not be based on slogans or political agendas”. Contrast that with …
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