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European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

theguardian.com

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Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#3

The European IBank is an arm of the European Central Bank. The mandate of the ECB is to provide a stable currency, not to combat climate change. That is something for the European parliament and the governments of EU countries to tackle.

That is not the mandate of the EIB and has never been. From their website: “The European Investment Bank is the lending arm of the European Union.”

From the first paragraph on Wikipedia: “As a ‘policy-driven bank’ whose shareholders are the member states of the EU, the EIB uses its financing operations to bring about European integration and social cohesion. It should not be confused with the European Central Bank.”

About their mission: “ As the ‘Bank of the European Union’. the EIB's mission is to make a difference to the future of Europe and its partners by supporting sound investments which further EU policy goals.”

So this is exactly the kind of thing they do.

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#4

The European IBank is an arm of the European Central Bank. The mandate of the ECB is to provide a stable currency, not to combat climate change. That is something for the European parliament and the governments of EU countries to tackle.

Where’d you get that? The EIB is from the 50s, and includes non-ECB countries. It’s not an arm of the ECB.

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#6
post #5

Soon decisions like this won't make headlines because it will be normal not to invest in industries based on increasing suffering. Do we support investing in blood diamonds, no matter how profitable?

$XLE for those that want to pick up cheap stocks.

Till there's a global solution to the energy problem we'll need oil. Existing solutions are nowhere close to being sufficient, therefore divestment will have no impact on the amount of oil burned. It's ridiculous to think that clicking a sell button on some assets will fix global warming, that's not how the world works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption

As Bill Gates says, we need to fight two fronts of misinformation: a) that global warming is not a problem, and b) that it is an easy problem.

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#7

The European IBank is an arm of the European Central Bank. The mandate of the ECB is to provide a stable currency, not to combat climate change. That is something for the European parliament and the governments of EU countries to tackle.

"Development banks" have more of a fiscal than monetary responsibility.

Just like with IMF which is supposed to keep the world's monetary system stable (more like central banks/monetary side of things), and the World Bank which is supposed to induce progress (more like governments/fiscal side of things).

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#8
post #6
post #5

Soon decisions like this won't make headlines because it will be normal not to invest in industries based on increasing suffering. Do we support investing in blood diamonds, no matter how profitable?

$XLE for those that want to pick up cheap stocks. Till there's a global solution to the energy problem we'll need oil. Existing solutions are nowhere close to being sufficient, therefore divestment will have no impact on the amount of oil burned. It's ridiculous to think that clicking a sell button on some assets will fix global warming, that's not how the world works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consu…

> $XLE for those that want to pick up cheap stocks.

A nuance is that you don't want to buy into these stocks while people are moving away from vice stocks.

However, once the trend is stabilised and there are no more marginal investors to adopt a vice-free portfolio, then you should buy all the vice stocks as they will have a more favourable discount rate.

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#9
post #6
post #5

Soon decisions like this won't make headlines because it will be normal not to invest in industries based on increasing suffering. Do we support investing in blood diamonds, no matter how profitable?

$XLE for those that want to pick up cheap stocks. Till there's a global solution to the energy problem we'll need oil. Existing solutions are nowhere close to being sufficient, therefore divestment will have no impact on the amount of oil burned. It's ridiculous to think that clicking a sell button on some assets will fix global warming, that's not how the world works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consu…

> It's ridiculous to think that clicking a sell button on some assets will fix global warming, that's not how the world works.

It's ridiculous to think that reduced demand for some stock will not reduce its price.

More concretely, the more banks and people make gestures like this, the easier it is for politicians to reduce subsidies / increase taxes for fossil fuels, which will definitely reduce the amount of oil burned.

Re: European Investment Bank to phase out fossil fuel financing

#10
post #6
post #5

Soon decisions like this won't make headlines because it will be normal not to invest in industries based on increasing suffering. Do we support investing in blood diamonds, no matter how profitable?

$XLE for those that want to pick up cheap stocks. Till there's a global solution to the energy problem we'll need oil. Existing solutions are nowhere close to being sufficient, therefore divestment will have no impact on the amount of oil burned. It's ridiculous to think that clicking a sell button on some assets will fix global warming, that's not how the world works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consu…

Less money invested in oil means more money to invest in alternatives, which is what they're saying they will do.
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