UBS Global Research (no url, paper for clients): “Following on a series of recent meetings with our clients, we highlight the fossil fuel disinvestment campaign as potentially effective movement, defined as one that will act as a catalyst for change.”
“Why? Because many of those engaged in the debate are the consumers, voters and leaders of the next several decades. In our view, this single fact carries more weight than any other data point on the planet for this issue: time, youthful energy and stamina are on the side of the fossil fuel divestment campaign.
Fossil Fuel Disinvestment is Not the (Entire) Answer: because saying no to fossil fuel investments is no simple matter. Fossil fuels are systemic. They are embedded in every aspect of our daily lives. Suddenly removing them would do untold damage to society. Less dramatically, divesting from fossil fuel industries would leave plenty of fossil fuel exposure, direct and indirect, in investment portfolios, potentially undermining the campaign on the oblique. But…
Fossil Fuel “Distributed Disinvestment” is the Answer: We see the fossil fuel divestment campaign as significant, signalling a structural shift in energy procurement and usage in the next couple of decades. Our view has been supported by an important UBS Q-Series® (Will solar, batteries and electric cars reshape the electricity system? 20 August 2014). This report evokes a vision of future transformation in the electricity market, in the direction of fossil fuel disinvestment in the true sense of the word. Should the distributed model they describe become widespread, we believe it has the potential to change the competitive positioning of fossil fuels in regional energy markets, thus also investment portfolios.
Climate Change “Proactive Adapters”: In the broader context of climate change we believe the long-term winners will be proactive adapters, as described in a recent note. We see stocks named in the abovementioned Q-Series® – see Table 1 – as adapting proactively to nascent structural shifts in energy and infrastructure, thus, moving in the broad direction signalled by the fossil fuels divestment campaign.”
“Why? Because many of those engaged in the debate are the consumers, voters and leaders of the next several decades. In our view, this single fact carries more weight than any other data point on the planet for this issue: time, youthful energy and stamina are on the side of the fossil fuel divestment campaign.
Fossil Fuel Disinvestment is Not the (Entire) Answer: because saying no to fossil fuel investments is no simple matter. Fossil fuels are systemic. They are embedded in every aspect of our daily lives. Suddenly removing them would do untold damage to society. Less dramatically, divesting from fossil fuel industries would leave plenty of fossil fuel exposure, direct and indirect, in investment portfolios, potentially undermining the campaign on the oblique. But…
Fossil Fuel “Distributed Disinvestment” is the Answer: We see the fossil fuel divestment campaign as significant, signalling a structural shift in energy procurement and usage in the next couple of decades. Our view has been supported by an important UBS Q-Series® (Will solar, batteries and electric cars reshape the electricity system? 20 August 2014). This report evokes a vision of future transformation in the electricity market, in the direction of fossil fuel disinvestment in the true sense of the word. Should the distributed model they describe become widespread, we believe it has the potential to change the competitive positioning of fossil fuels in regional energy markets, thus also investment portfolios.
Climate Change “Proactive Adapters”: In the broader context of climate change we believe the long-term winners will be proactive adapters, as described in a recent note. We see stocks named in the abovementioned Q-Series® – see Table 1 – as adapting proactively to nascent structural shifts in energy and infrastructure, thus, moving in the broad direction signalled by the fossil fuels divestment campaign.”
