The G20 nations have commissioned a public-private inquiry “into global financial risks posed by fossil fuel companies investing in costly ventures that clash with international climate goals and may never be viable,” The Telegraph reported this week.
“World leaders are increasingly concerned that a $6 trillion wave of investment into the nexus of oil, gas, and coal since 2007 is based on false assumptions, leaving companies with an overhang of debt and ‘stranded assets’ that cannot easily be burned under CO2 emission limits,” the paper reports.
The G20 has responded to the challenge by asking the Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland to conduct a study of unburnable carbon risk. “All member countries have agreed to cooperate or carry out internal probes, including the United States, China, India, Russia, Australia, and Saudi Arabia,” Evans-Pritchard writes. “Diplomatic sources have told The Telegraph that the investigation is being pushed by France and is modelled on a review launched by the Bank of England last year.”
