爱尔兰议会接收提案 全球首个化石燃料撤资立法呼之欲出

作为历史上首个针对化石燃料撤资的政府投票，爱尔兰下议院（Dáil）上周决定将提案提交至委员会进行详细研究。

该由众议院独立议员Thomas Pringle提出。提案建议爱尔兰政府指示国库管理署（NTMA）从现有对化石燃料的投资中撤出80亿欧元爱尔兰战略投资基金，并禁止未来对化石燃料行业再进行任何投资。

爱尔兰政府的这一动作快于挪威和新西兰。挪威的政府养老基金考虑今年晚些时候从其投资组合中减少对高排放公司的投资。新西兰超级基金则计划降低其化石燃料投资风险敞口，积极寻求更加绿色的投资，从而减少碳足迹，并将于2017年6月底确定具体目标。

据国际能源署测算，要实现《巴黎气候协定》的目标并将全球温升控制在2°C以内，全球化石燃料总需求须于2020年达到峰值；且到2040年，对化石燃料相关资产的投资金额需要比常规情景（Business-as-usual）少16万亿美元；此外在可再生能源和能源高效利用方面的投资需要增加24万亿美元。投资者们正积极响应，调整投资组合结构——减少化石燃料投资，增加清洁能源投资。截至2016年12月，已有总资产管理规模达5.2万亿美元的投资者承诺从化石燃料领域撤资，以便更好地管理气候变化给其投资带来的财务风险，并为快速和安全过渡到《巴黎协定》中的“净零碳经济”做出贡献。

相关方声音

 “各国政府对实现巴黎承诺发挥根本性作用，他们应确保公共资金用于支持向清洁能源过渡，且不受到必然衰落的化石燃料行业的影响。”

---该提案的发起人Thomas Pringle议员

“诚如英格兰银行周一提醒我们注意的：减排和应对气候变化的行动可能导致全球大比例碳储量无法得到利用，进而引起一系列金融资产的再估值。如今可再生能源的成本已经低于或持平于新建化石燃料设施的发电成本，电动汽车预计2022年也将实现同样意义的里程碑。大型石油天然气公司的价值被大大高估，对投资者构成风险。爱尔兰议会此举是从爱尔兰人民的利益出发，也是对全球控制气候变化事业的支持。”

---欧洲撤资运动（Europeans for Divest Invest）发言人Sian Ferguson

英文版

IRISH PARLIAMENT MAJORITY SIGNALS FIRST OF ITS KIND FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT LEGISLATION

In the first ever Government vote on fossil fuel divestment, the Irish Parliament (the Dáil) decided today to progress a Private Member’s Bill to the Committee stage for detailed consideration.

The Private Members Bill, introduced by Independent TD Thomas Pringle, proposes that the Irish Government instruct the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) to divest the €8billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund from all current fossil fuel investments, and prohibits any future investments in the industry.

The move comes ahead of a review of The Government Pension Fund of Norway to consider divesting from high emission companies in their portfolio later this year and plans by the New Zealand Super Fund to have a target in place by the end of June 2017 to reduce its carbon footprint by cutting fossil fuel exposure and seeking greener investments.

According to the International Energy Agency, to meet the Paris Climate Agreement and keep temperature rises well below 2°C, global demand for fossil fuels must peak by 2020, there must be $16 trillion less investment in fossil fuel related assets compared to business as usual by 2040, and there must be $24tn more investment into renewables and efficient energy usage. Investors are responding to this by amending their portfolios decreasing investment in fossil fuels and increasing investment in clean energy. By December 2016, investors with assets under management of $5.2 trillion had committed to fossil fuel divestment in order to manage the financial risks of climate change to their investment portfolios and support a timely and safe transition to a net-zero carbon economy as agreed in the Paris Agreement.

Quotes from stakeholders

Thomas Pringle, the TD who introduced the bill, said “National governments have an essential role to play in backing up their Paris pledges by ensuring public funds are well placed to support the clean energy transition, and protected from the inevitable decline of the fossil fuel industry.”

Sian Ferguson, spokesperson for Europeans for Divest Invest, said “As the Bank of England reminded us on Monday, limiting emissions to prevent climate change might leave a substantial proportion of the world’s carbon reserves unusable which could lead to revaluations across a range of financial assets. With renewable energy now cheaper or the same cost as new fossil fuel generation, and electric vehicles expected to reach the equivalent milestone by 2022, the big oil and gas companies are significantly overpriced, posing risk for investors. The Irish Parliament is acting in the interests of the Irish people, as well as in support of the global effort needed to reign in climate change.