Sweden’s Central Bank Ditches Bonds Issued by Major Polluters
Sweden’s central bank will no longer hold bonds issued by local authorities in Canada and Australia with high carbon-dioxide emissions after yielding to critics who say it’s not doing enough to tackle climate change.The Riksbank said on Wednesday it had sold its holdings of securities from the Canadian province of Alberta, where greenhouse gas emissions per capita are three times higher than in Ontario and Quebec. It also sold debt issued by the Australian states of Queensland and Western Australia.
The Riksbank has invested around 8% of its foreign exchange reserves in Australian and Canadian central and federal government bonds, “as they give a relatively high yield and a good diversification of risk, at the same time as being traded on a liquid market,” Deputy Governor Martin Floden said in a speech in Orebro, in central Sweden.But, “the Riksbank needs to analyze and manage the economic consequences of climate change,” Floden said. “We can contribute to the climate work to some extent by giving consideration to sustainability aspects when investing in the foreign exchange reserves. We are now doing this by rejecting issuers who have a large climate footprint.”
Increasingly Concerned
The Riksbank’s initiative comes as central bankers around the world are becoming increasingly concerned with the threats posed by climate change. In what is considered a landmark speech, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned in 2015 of an impending tragedy caused by climate change. Since then, central banks around the world have launched various initiatives to assess climate-related risks and review what role they themselves should play.
The state governments of Queensland and Western Australia could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney also said in September that the financial sector had to transform its management of climate risk, warning that global warming would prompt reassessments of the value of every single financial asset.
Central bankers aren't your typical tree huggers, so politicians should take note when they start blacklisting government bonds over climate concerns
