IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/glenvp/v20y2020i2p3-11.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shadows of Divestment: The Complications of Diverting Fossil Fuel Finance

Author

Listed:
  • Kate J. Neville

Abstract

This forum article offers a critical assessment of the strategy of divestment from fossil fuels as climate action, considering the unintended or spillover consequences of reinvestment in other industries. With a focus on two sectors—agriculture and renewable energy—it examines how reinvestment to achieve competitive financial returns might exacerbate non-emissions-based environmental and social damage. The analysis draws on established and emerging research in global environmental politics on the political economy of commodity trade to sound a cautionary note about divestment, arguing that the strategy can maintain the status quo as readily as it can disrupt systems of power. A focus on divestment addresses a crucial immediate problem, but without a critical look at reinvestment and the current political economic order, activists could be reinforcing the same systems of environmental and social damage they are aiming to dismantle.

Suggested Citation

  • Kate J. Neville, 2020. "Shadows of Divestment: The Complications of Diverting Fossil Fuel Finance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 3-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:20:y:2020:i:2:p:3-11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/glep_a_00555
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eve Bratman & Kate Brunette & Deirdre C. Shelly & Simon Nicholson, 2016. "Justice is the goal: divestment as climate change resistance," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 6(4), pages 677-690, December.
    2. J. Edward Taylor, 2010. "Agricultural Labor and Migration Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 369-393, October.
    3. Hélène Ducros, 2014. "Review Essay: Localized Responses to Unsustainable Growth," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 14(2), pages 122-128, May.
    4. Jonathan Kishen Gamu & Peter Dauvergne, 2018. "The slow violence of corporate social responsibility: the case of mining in Peru," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 959-975, May.
    5. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    6. Kemi Fuentes-George, 2017. "Consensus, Certainty, and Catastrophe: Discourse, Governance, and Ocean Iron Fertilization," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 125-143, May.
    7. Noam Bergman, 2018. "Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: Effects on Finance, Policy and Public Discourse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Petr Havlík & Hugo Valin & Aline Mosnier & Michael Obersteiner & Justin S. Baker & Mario Herrero & Mariana C. Rufino & Erwin Schmid, 2013. "Crop Productivity and the Global Livestock Sector: Implications for Land Use Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(2), pages 442-448.
    9. Kate J. Neville & Glen Coulthard, 2019. "Transformative Water Relations: Indigenous Interventions in Global Political Economies," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(3), pages 1-15, August.
    10. Ritchie, J. & Dowlatabadi, H., 2014. "Understanding the shadow impacts of investment and divestment decisions: Adapting economic input–output models to calculate biophysical factors of financial returns," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 132-140.
    11. Jennifer Clapp, 2019. "The rise of financial investment and common ownership in global agrifood firms," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 604-629, July.
    12. Peter Dauvergne, 2008. "The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262042460, April.
    13. Dauvergne, Peter, 2013. "Eco-Business: A Big-Brand Takeover of Sustainability," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262018760, April.
    14. Peter Dauvergne & Genevieve LeBaron, 2013. "The Social Cost of Environmental Solutions," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 410-430, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Baines, Joseph & Hager, Sandy Brian, 2021. "Commodity Traders in a Storm: Financialization, Corporate Power and Ecological Crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar.
    2. Devon Reynolds & David Ciplet, 2023. "Transforming Socially Responsible Investment: Lessons from Environmental Justice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 53-69, February.
    3. Baines, Joseph & Hager, Sandy Brian, 2022. "From Passive Owners to Planet Savers? Asset Managers, Carbon Majors and the Limits of Sustainable Finance," EconStor Preprints 249674, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dylan Gibson & Leslie A. Duram, 2020. "Shifting Discourse on Climate and Sustainability: Key Characteristics of the Higher Education Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Daniel Rosenbloom & Adrian Rinscheid, 2020. "Deliberate decline: An emerging frontier for the study and practice of decarbonization," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    3. Joyeeta Gupta & Arthur Rempel & Hebe Verrest, 2020. "Access and allocation: the role of large shareholders and investors in leaving fossil fuels underground," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 303-322, June.
    4. Peter Dauvergne & Jennifer Clapp, 2016. "Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Weng, Yuwei & Chang, Shiyan & Cai, Wenjia & Wang, Can, 2019. "Exploring the impacts of biofuel expansion on land use change and food security based on a land explicit CGE model: A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 514-525.
    6. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.
    7. Johan Swinnen & Alessandro Olper & Senne Vandevelde, 2021. "From unfair prices to unfair trading practices: Political economy, value chains and 21st century agri‐food policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(5), pages 771-788, September.
    8. Martín-García, Jaime & Gómez-Limón, José A. & Arriaza, Manuel, 2024. "Conversion to organic farming: Does it change the economic and environmental performance of fruit farms?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    9. Gabriela Michalek & Reimund Schwarze, 2015. "Carbon leakage: pollution, trade or politics?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1471-1492, December.
    10. Yannic Rehm & Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Measuring the Carbon Content of Wealth Evidence from France and Germany," PSE Working Papers halshs-03828939, HAL.
    11. CARPENTIER, Alain & GOHIN, Alexandre & SCKOKAI, Paolo & THOMAS, Alban, 2015. "Economic modelling of agricultural production: past advances and new challenges," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 96(1), March.
    12. Stavros Kalogiannidis & Simeon Karafolas & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis, 2024. "The Key Role of Cooperatives in Sustainable Agriculture and Agrifood Security: Evidence from Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-20, August.
    13. Chiara Mazzocchi & Guido Sali, 2022. "Supporting mountain agriculture through “mountain product” label: a choice experiment approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 701-723, January.
    14. Linda Hancock & Linda Wollersheim, 2021. "EU Carbon Diplomacy: Assessing Hydrogen Security and Policy Impact in Australia and Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-27, December.
    15. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Smith, Tom & McKnight, Brent, 2016. "Environmental finance: A research agenda for interdisciplinary finance research," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 124-130.
    16. Anna Lungarska & Thierry Brunelle & Raja Chakir & Pierre‐Alain Jayet & Rémi Prudhomme & Stéphane De Cara & Jean‐Christophe Bureau, 2023. "Halving mineral nitrogen use in European agriculture: Insights from multi‐scale land‐use models," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1529-1550, September.
    17. Cecilia Castaldo & Matilde Giaccherini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro Palma, 2024. "Unveiling Shades of Green Food beyond Labels. Evidence from an Online Experiment to Climate Adaptation," CESifo Working Paper Series 11161, CESifo.
    18. Iliriana Miftari & Rainer Haas & Oliver Meixner & Drini Imami & Ekrem Gjokaj, 2022. "Factors Influencing Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Products in a Transition Economy—Insights from Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    19. Maurer, Rainer, 2023. "Comparing the effect of different agricultural land-use systems on biodiversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    20. Yoon‐Hee Ha & John Byrne, 2019. "The rise and fall of green growth: Korea's energy sector experiment and its lessons for sustainable energy policy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(4), July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:20:y:2020:i:2:p:3-11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kelly McDougall (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.