The issue: Fossil fuels
Asset managers are investing in the climate crisis
Coal, oil, and gas release carbon pollution that accelerates the climate emergency. Rising temperatures will continue to exacerbate the impacts of fires, floods, deadly heatwaves, and other environmental disasters.
Retirement plans are still heavily invested in coal, oil, and gas
As the financial industry looks to align their businesses with the Paris climate agreement, asset managers are beginning to exclude some of the most egregious climate offenders, like thermal coal producers, from the funds they offer in corporate retirement plans. However, 401(k)s and similar retirement plans are still mostly invested in index funds with broad exposure to fossil fuel companies – from Big Oil to small fracking companies.
Asset managers like Vanguard are investing in a deadly industry – and they’re using workers’ retirement plan savings to do so. Through funds from asset managers like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street, the retirement plans of companies like Amazon and Comcast are investing hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel companies that are fueling the climate crisis.
FOCUS: SUSTAINABILITY RISK
Top carbon reserve owners
Oil majors and coal mining companies continue to explore for new fossil fuel deposits, despite knowing full well we can only burn a fraction of current proven reserves and still avoid catastrophic climate change.
As governments act to restrict emissions, these carbon reserves may become stranded assets, sinking companies and taking people’s savings down with them.
The Solutions
Exclude climate-harming companies from retirement plan default options
The default option offered in company retirement plans, which usually ends up with the bulk of employee contributions, should be sustainably invested and exclude major climate offenders like the Carbon Underground 200 and the Global Coal Exit List.
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