BNP Paribas to scale down investments in thermal coal
French bank’s investment management arm says it will not put funds into companies that get more than 10% of their revenue from the fossil fuel
Paris — BNP Paribas Asset Management, the investment management arm of the French bank, is to stop investing in companies that obtain more than 10% of their revenue from thermal coal. The exclusion of such companies producing thermal coal and generating electricity from coal was announced on Thursday and will come into effect at the start of next year as part of the fund’s strategy to reduce economic risk within its portfolios as coal becomes uncompetitive as a fuel for power generation. Fossil fuel divestment has gathered pace over the past few years as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and universities have sold oil, gas and coal stocks, especially after the 195-nation global climate agreement signed in Paris set a goal in 2015 of phasing out the use of fossil fuels this century. Norway’s $1-trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, is barred from investing in companies that gain more than 30% of their business from coal and last week said it would sell its stakes i...
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