Fossil fuel divestment drive gathers momentum

Paris

THE campaign to sell off investments in fossil fuel projects, particularly those involving coal, is no longer a fringe movement as big players like banks and investment funds get on board.

The divestment campaign has come a long way from its beginnings in the US, where students began pressuring their university investment funds in 2008 to pull their money out of companies connected with fossil fuels. Norway decided in June to pull its sovereign wealth fund - the world's biggest - out of coal and many advanced nations agreed earlier this month to restrict subsidies that help companies export coal-fired power plants.