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| New analysis reveals the biggest financiers of global warming / Attac calls for ban on fossil investments |
| The new investigation Investing in Climate Chaos reveals the global investments of more than 6.500 institutional investors in stocks and bonds of oil and gas producers and companies in the coal industry. The total amount of shares held by wealth managers, banks and pension funds as of January 2023 was a staggering $3,07 trillion. The analysis also shows that Raiffeisen is the largest investor from the EU in Russian oil and gas companies. The investigation is a joint project by the organization urgewald and more than 20 international NGO partners. In Austria Attac is co-editor of the analysis. (press briefing with tables and data for download.) Two-thirds of the fossil investment sum - 2,13 trillion US dollars - was invested in companies that produce oil and gas. Another $1,05 trillion will go to coal investments. “As the UN increasingly warns that the global community must halve its emissions by 2030, pension funds, insurers, mutual funds and wealth managers are still pouring money into the world's worst climate polluters. We are making this public so customers, regulators and the public can hold these investors accountable,” says Katrin Ganswindt, Energy and Finance Campaigner at urgewald. Attac calls for a ban on fossil investments Despite the requirement enshrined in the Paris climate agreement to bring financial flows in line with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, there is still no regulation that restricts or prohibits fossil investments. Attac therefore calls for a legal ban on fossil investments. "Banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and pension funds must be obliged to phase out their investments in fossil energy and ultimately to stop them altogether," explains Taschwer. The Austrian government should also work for corresponding national and European regulations. Vanguard and BlackRock are the biggest financiers of the climate crisis US investors account for almost two-thirds of all investments, at around $2 trillion. Europe is the second largest source of fossil investments in the world. 50 percent of investments in fossil fuel companies are held by just 23 investors, 18 of them from the US. The world's largest fossil investors are Vanguard ($269 billion) and BlackRock ($263 billion). They account for around 17 percent of all global investments in fossil fuel companies. Raiffeisen largest EU investor in Russian oil and gas companies According to the data Austrian investors hold shares and bonds of oil, gas and coal companies worth 1,25 billion euros. The Raiffeisen Group alone accounts for well over half of this, at over 700 million euros. Erste Bank holds around EUR 255 million in shares, the majority in the oil and gas sector. Four Austrian investors also hold shares in Russian fossil companies totaling EUR 288 million (as of January 2023). Raiffeisen has the lion's share with 278 million euros. Raffeisen is also the largest EU investor in Russian oil and gas companies and is in second place in Europe in this respect, right behind the Swiss Pictet Group. Raiffeisen is also among the top 10 foreign investors of Lukoil, Novatek and Rosneft. Around 90 million euros are invested in Gazprom shares. “Through its considerable investments in Russian state-owned companies, Raiffeisenbank is also financing the war-mongering Russia under Putin. It is high time that banks invest uncompromisingly in renewable energies and thus in a climate-friendly future for all of us," says Jasmin Duregger, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria. |
| Detail information: Long press briefing with tables and data for download Excel table with detailed information on all investors and fossil companiesExcel table with detailed information on European investorsExcel table with detailed information on Austrian investors |
Photo / Video: Sabine Klimpt.
