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Martin Wolf: humanity is making risky bets in the climate casino

Date: 18 Jun 2014
By: John Elkington
Comment: 0

Martin-Wolf 2

(Photo courtesy of FT)

How much of the world’s fossil fuel reserves will eventually be burnt? That is the critical question that Martin Wolf asks in his insightful article in today’s Financial Times. His view is that, on current assumptions, ExxonMobil probably has it right in arguing that the oil industry won’t suffer from stranded assets, because the world won’t act on climate change in time. But one of the most interesting voices in this space is the Carbon Tracker Initiative.

My own bet in the climate casino is that Carbon Tracker are right to argue that investors will be hit – and that means our pensions will be hit – in a shorter timescale than many imagine. As for ExxonMobil, they may be perfectly within their rights to argue as they do. But it is very likely that future generations will treat companies that did the heavy duty anti-climate-change lobbying in recent years in the same way that they have treated the tobacco industry. Anyone investing for the long term should therefore be wary of backing those who produce coal, oil and tracked gas.

A decade or so ago, I had a very energetic exchange on this subject with ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, over the heads of 300 or so oil industry executives gathered in Stavanger, Norway. He denied his company was lobbying to stall climate change initiatives. I think the record shows different – and the picture will look grimmer still when the deep historical analysis is done.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with older material still available on this site.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on the Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition to this website, my blogs have appeared on such sites as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, Good Deals, Guardian Sustainable Business and Huffington Post.

In this new iteration of the site, the ‘Comments’ function has been reanimated. Please do make use of it.

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John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with older material still available on this site.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on the Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition to this website, my blogs have appeared on such sites as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, Good Deals, Guardian Sustainable Business and Huffington Post.

In this new iteration of the site, the ‘Comments’ function has been reanimated. Please do make use of it.

Categories

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  • Blog
  • Uncategorized

Archives

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