Pringle welcomes research on impact of Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill
- Updated: 12th April 2023
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has welcomed new research that pointed to the broad impact of Ireland’s decision to divest itself of fossil fuels in response to a bill he introduced.
Deputy Pringle said: “I believed that when the Dáil passed my Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill in 2018 that it would see Ireland make a significant contribution to the global movement for fossil fuel divestment. It is deeply gratifying to see this has been the case.”
The Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill 2016, which Deputy Pringle introduced, made Ireland the first country in the world to divest public money from fossil fuel companies. The bill received cross-party and Government support.
The Financial Times recently reported on a study by academics at Solvay Brussels School of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics and Harvard Law School that found the social media impact of divestment decisions led to a much larger financial impact on the companies’ market values, and cited the Irish example.
Deputy Pringle said: “The researchers found that in the three days around the 2018 news of the vote to divest, that $14 billion – or 3.1 per cent – was wiped off the collective market values of the biggest oil and gas companies in the United States.” The bill required the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to sell off about €72 million in investments.
The deputy said the report found the larger financial impact signalled that – in light of the social media coverage – investors were revaluating their estimates of stranded asset risk. The news had gone viral, and was tweeted and retweeted thousands of times.
Deputy Pringle said: “The Financial Times quoted one of the report’s authors, Marco Becht, who said Ireland’s decision to divest was particularly important and ‘path-breaking’ because it moved beyond the religious groups and universities that had been the main drivers of the divestment movement at that point.
“It shows how Ireland can be a leader in the global climate change debate, when the political will is there.
“We still have far to go in combatting climate change, which remains the defining issue for our country and our society. We cannot shy away from the political decisions that will ensure a just transition that will provide sustainable and affordable alternatives for all our people,” the deputy said.
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