• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration March 19, 2023
Repsol Abandons Plan to Ship Canadian LNG to Europe March 17, 2023
Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska March 14, 2023
U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse March 14, 2023
Next
Prev

Rockefeller Fund Shows Five-Year Gain After Dropping Fossil Investments

May 18, 2020
Reading time: 3 minutes

Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

13
SHARES
 

In defiance of market predictions, the US$1.1-billion Rockefeller Brothers Fund has surpassed its benchmarks since an almost complete divestment from fossil fuels five years ago—proving that what was once dismissed as a “symbolic gesture” was in fact an act of significant financial acuity.

In 2014, grasping the perils of anthropogenic climate change, the Rockefeller family chose to jettison all but “less than 1%” of its fossil holdings, writes the Washington Post. Since then, the mostly fossil-free fund has grown “at an annual average rate of 7.76%” as of December 2019. By comparison, the previous benchmark investment portfolio “would have returned only 6.71% annually over the same time frame.” 

  • Be among the first to read The Energy Mix Weekender
  • A brand new weekly digest containing exclusive and essential climate stories from around the world.
  • The Weekender:The climate news you need.
Subscribe

Such performance has sparked a “movement” and bodes well for fossil divestment campaigns around the world, said Rockefeller Fund President Stephen Heintz. It has also become a powerful economic driver, notes the Post, as “increasing attention to climate change has spread the idea that many of the assets or reserves on the books of big oil and coal companies might never be tapped, but rather would be left in the ground and ‘stranded’.”

Even CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer has declared he is “done with fossil fuels,” reports the Post. Cramer took his personal portfolio fossil-free this past January and has publicly equated fossil fuels with tobacco, saying they “may just be on the wrong side of history.” 

Also getting cold feet is BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm. Responsible for some US$7 trillion in investments, BlackRock began 2020 with the announcement that “it would exit some investments related to coal production and make sustainability a central part of its portfolio.”

Describing the cumulative impact of such exits and entrances as “underappreciated,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at investment firm Raymond James, told the Post that “26% of all U.S. professionally managed assets worth $12 trillion are covered by some kind of investing limitations, or screens, triple the amount in 2012.” Of that total, $3 trillion “is centred on climate”.

In highlighting its healthy returns since going fossil-free, the Rockefellers are trying to persuade large-fund managers who cite fiduciary responsibility as reason not to divest from fossil fuels to think again.

But more than dollars and cents come into play when trying to change people’s minds, notes the Post. Even when the Rockefellers’ move was being called empty symbolism, that in itself had power. 

“Don’t underestimate the value of symbols to motivate people, inspire change, and tell a story that can be very compelling,” Heintz said.



in Climate Action / "Blockadia", Community Climate Finance, Ending Emissions, Oil & Gas, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter
International Agencies & Studies

BREAKING: Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 20, 2023
0
EcoFlight
First Peoples

Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration

March 19, 2023
329
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr
Oil & Gas

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
76

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

@davenewworld_2

Keystone Pipeline Safety Worries Lawmakers after TC Energy Ordered to Reduce Operating Pressure

March 19, 2023
83
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
76
David Dodge, Green Energy Futures/flickr

U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

March 14, 2023
538
EcoFlight

Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration

March 19, 2023
329
Environmental Defence Canada/flickr

Repsol Abandons Plan to Ship Canadian LNG to Europe

March 18, 2023
279
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board/flickr

$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’

March 14, 2023
279

Recent Posts

IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

BREAKING: Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 20, 2023
0
Wikimedia Commons/Humans of Vanuatu

Six Countries Call for Fossil-Free Pacific

March 19, 2023
15
Wikipedia

Fossil Funding Makes Indigenous Resource Network a ‘Propaganda Machine’, Opponent Says

March 19, 2023
12
moerschy / Pixabay

Planetary Weight Study Shows Humans Taking Most of Earth’s Resources

March 19, 2023
10
U.S. Bureau of Land Management/flickr

Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska

March 14, 2023
139
EcoAnalytics

Canadians Want Strong Emissions Cap Regulations, Not More Missed Targets

March 14, 2023
148
Next Post
Senate Democrats/Flickr

Biden Names Ocasio-Cortez, Kerry to Co-Chair Climate Task Force

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}