This is, to quote the vice president, a big fucking deal. Grab the coal industry by its financial cojones and squeeze and you got the beginning of the end. Of course, in this country, the crazies will go bonkers because it's happening thanks to those damn Democratic socialists in Norway.
The news:
Norway’s parliament has formally endorsed the move to sell off coal investments from its $900bn sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest.
It is the largest fossil fuel divestment yet, affecting 122 companies across the world, and marking a new success for the fast-growing and UN-backed climate change campaign.
A new analysis said the fund would sell off over $8bn (£5bn) of coal-related investments as a result.
The biggest single sell-off from Norway’s fund will be the UK utility SSE, in which the fund holds $956m of shares. The fund is also set to sell its $49m stake in Drax, which runs the UK’s biggest coal-fired power station.
And:
Norway’s finance committee decided the nation’s fund, known as the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), should sell stakes in companies for which mining or burning coal makes up more than 30% of their business, or have projects in development that would tip them over the 30% threshold. The measures are to be implemented on 1 January 2016.
And:
“The significance of the Norway decision is that, because of their size and reach, this will act as a major signal for other investors to follow. This will certainly create a wave,” said Mark Campanale, founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, which has pioneered analysis of the financial risks of fossil fuels.
This doesn't mean coal mines and coal-fired generating stations are shutting down tomorrow. It just means that pressure is going to mount as it becomes harder and harder to sustain the industry, particularly when large financial interests dump the investments in coal.
As an aside, just worth noting: the sovereign wealth fund was created "as a tool to manage the financial challenges of an ageing population and an expected drop in petroleum revenue." In other words, political leaders figured out that the bounty from the North Sea oil gave it a long-term opportunity to manage its fiscal affairs and, in particular, be able to make sure that people retired with a decent pension.