The number of socially responsible investment (SRI) professionals offering fossil fuel-free portfolios nearly doubled, from 22 to 42%, between 2013 and 2015, according to a survey released last week by First Affirmative Financial Network.
Nearly three-quarters of the survey’s 510 respondents saw 2015 as “the right time for investors to assess and perhaps alter” their fossil fuel investments, while two-thirds believed retail investors want fossil-free alternatives. The number of respondents reporting interest in fossil-free investing among institutional clients grew from 49 to 61%.
More than three-quarters of respondents “believe there are growing risks associated with investing in fossil fuel extractors/manufacturers,” Fierce Energy reports. “Nearly half (47%) said they believe ‘the movement to divest from fossil fuel extraction companies is expanding to include companies that produce large…greenhouse gas emissions.’”
“Many more survey respondents (61%) are concerned about ‘stranded asset’ risks to investors created by climate change than those who are not (15%),” the Network reported. “Only one in four respondents either don’t know about or are unsure about this ‘carbon bubble’ risk.”
