Carbon Capital booklet

Type: Leaflets
Date: 1 March 2013
Campaigns: Climate

Fossil fuel companies raise money through a mix of equity and debt. Large companies usually raise equity by selling shares, and the London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s leading share trading venues. The money mostly comes from ordinary people, but we have little say in the decision of fund managers to invest our pensions, insurance revenues and savings in extractive industries.

The financial sector views fossil fuels as a reliable bet, and is betting on the UK government doing little to curb our oil, gas and coal addiction. With tax breaks of over £1 billion to North Sea oil, and new carbon reporting rules that don’t even ask financiers to count the impact of their investments, it has not been disappointed.

This booklet looks at how the City of London organises the fossil fuel investments for destructive fossil fuel projects that are leading to runaway climate change, and asks what we can do to stop it. Its aim is to inform campaigners and equip them to take action.