One of the world’s largest insurers, Allianz, has announced it will begin divesting from coal in favor of investing in renewable energy.
Allianz is one of world’s largest financial asset managers, and the company announced on Tuesday, in concert with its Capital Markets Day, that it would begin phasing out coal. Specifically, Allianz stated that it would “stop financing coal-based business models,” such as companies that derive more than 30% of their revenue from coal mining, or generate over 30% of their energy from coal.
The announcement was made by the company’s CEO, Oliver Bäte, and is based at least in part on the two degrees Celsius target of the upcoming Paris climate negotiations, as well as the economic risks involved in continuing investments in coal.
The current details available are slim, and the company is intending to further expand on its decision later this week, but The Guardian quote “analysts” who are predicting the company’s decision could impact €4 billion worth of investments.
The divestment campaign has long been ramping up, and as of writing this, campaign network Fossil Free’s database has 489 institutions divesting to the tune of $2.6 trillion.
Concurrent to the divestment campaign has been the widespread attempt to convince governments to forego fossil fuel subsidies. The latest figures suggest that governments are spending more than ever on fossil fuel subsidies. Published earlier this month, a report by the Overseas Development Institute, with the Oil Change Institute, found that G20 nations were spending an average of $452 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies. A report published late-October by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) revealed that removing fossil fuel subsidies in the 20 countries studied would reduce national emissions by an average of 11% by 2020.
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