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Funds committed to divestment from fossil fuels now total more than $6 trillion (£4.6 trillion)

This is a guest post by Jeremy Leggett. Views are the author's own and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of MyGridGB or Dr Andrew Crossland.

Almost 1,000 institutional investors have so pledged, led by insurers at $3tn. Oil majors now cite divestment as a material risk to their business.

The Guardian reports: “The new divestment report, by Arabella Advisors, calculates that investors with $6.2tn in assets under management have committed to divest from fossil fuels, up from $5.2tn in the previous report in 2016.”

“Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of GMO, one of the world’s most influential asset management companies said the financial case for divestment was compelling. “Investors with long-term horizons should avoid oil stocks on investment grounds. They face a sustained headwind. Ethical arguments for divestments are simply not necessary. They are a pure bonus,” he said.”

Image: from DivestInvest website