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INVESTMENT FUNDS IN Ireland that declared themselves to be sustainable collectively hold more than $3 billion worth of investments in the fossil fuel and aviation industries, an investigation has found.
A joint ‘Great Green Investment Investigation’ by Investico, Follow the Money and nine European media organisations found shares in the fossil fuel industry held by ‘sustainable’ funds from providers such as Actiam, BlackRock and BNP Paribas.
Of 838 funds across Europe that have classified themselves as the highest category of sustainability under an EU system, 388 invest in aviation and fossil fuel companies.
Under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, funds must classify their sustainability level into one of several categories known as grey, light green, or dark green.
Dark green funds are classified as the most sustainable type of investment and are supposed to be working towards specific environmental or social goals in addition to not inflicting any significant harm.
However, the investigation found that 46.3% of 838 dark green funds had invested in fossil fuels or aviation.
Airlines EasyJet and Lufthansa are the subjects of investment by supposedly green funds, as well as US energy company NextEra Energy, French petroleum supermajor TotalEnergies, and the German coal company RWE.
In Ireland, data from the investigation shared with The Journal show that the value of investments in fossil fuels and aviation by ‘dark green’ funds was $3.205 billion, out of a total $137 billion.
The top ‘grey’ companies that were invested in by dark green funds include NextEra energy, a US energy company that generates electricity from renewable sources but also from gas, a fossil fuel, and Enel, an Italian gas and electricity distributor.
KKR & Co Inc, a US investment management company, received the third highest level of investment from dark green funds, followed by TotalEnergies SE, one of the world’s biggest oil companies, and the China Longyuan Power Group, which operates in wind power but also coal.
118 funds hold 579 investments in fossil fuels, including 512 investments in oil and gas and 224 in coal that add up to $3.1 billion.
Additionally, 45 funds hold 157 investments in the aviation industry worth $115 million.
The top funds investing the most in grey companies are BlackRock Global Funds New Energy Fund and Carmignac Investissement.
Those are followed by three funds operated by iShares (which itself is managed by BlackRock).
The European Securities and Markets Authority told investigators that “while there is not an explicit ban on fossil fuel investments as ‘sustainable investments’, it should be quite challenging to make such investments under sustainable investments due to the need to show that the investments do not harm any environmental or social objective”.
“It should indeed be quite difficult to argue that fossil fuel investments would respect [the principle of] do not significantly harm.”
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Id say roughly 60% of my friends are gone including myself and the sad part is I dont even want to come home the place is in that much of a state.
All my friends are gone except 3! I’m in London and I feel the same I don’t want to go back, went home to visit ad no way am I panning to go back, nothing to go back to
@Alan Kenny
Good luck in London…but after 18 years living there the tinted glasses get a bit worn down
True Marc, but no point having a made up image of what home was like, no jobs, no money, debt, people better off on social welfare then working minimum wage jobs, those who do work taxed to hilt, the whole private vs public sectors wage issue the list goes on and on .. And a government that does nothing to address the issue
Just arrived in London a few weeks ago, love the city cant believe its just on our doorstep, most of my friends are gone to Australia or Canada with a small few making it to the US.
@Alan
Points taken….hope it goes as plan for you there…. great city…great opportunities too…bit of advice for London especially….better to pay more to livei in small place in good area than big place in bad area because believe me London s bad area s can be really dreadful in terms if gangs…anti social stuff etc….just from experience
@ Marc, ya figured that out I’ve a lot of friends here so I know the area etc, when get are rough they are rough lol
Thanks for the advice :)
@ Marc, ya figured that out I’ve a lot of friends here so I know the area etc, when get are rough they are rough lol
Thanks for the advice :)
Lived in London all my life, West is Best, and a bit of North.
I left 3 years ago best thing i ever did! Don’t get me wrong i would love to be at home but the thought of paying for those bastards in power at present…… Good luck to everyone that leaves you wont regret it. Pity though that the people elected to protect you are forcing you out of your own country and laughing while you are leaving!
100% correct my mistake was I returned to Ireland
I agree. I’m not 100% over the moon with where I am living now, no where is perfect I guess, but at least I’m not paying the bankers. I had a good job at home, as did my girlfriend, but we couldn’t put up with the moaning or giving our tax money to bail out the banks any longer.
I left for Poland just this month for teaching. Already I know it’s the best decision I ever made. I’m in a country with four seasons rather than one, that’s not in recession, has a public transport that suits the passengers rather than the staff and isn’t full of begrudgement and constant moaning. As well as that, my taxes will be used for MY benefit rather than bondholders.
With the start of the recession-induced baby boom beginning to enter the education system, this year was supposed to be one of the best to get a job. But of course, no. Let’s just have much bigger classes instead. I got replies to job applications for temporary positions saying that 360 people had applied. And then the government think we can climb back out of this mess with a sub-standard education system. I know they were handed an unprecedented mess, but they’re not looking much better than the previous shower at this stage.
And the government, too busy licking its wounds and EU arses, does nothing…
They couldn’t care less. They’re delighted as it keeps the welfare bill down. In fact I reckon that the Govt are hoping for even higher numbers. I know one family that only have 1 son in Ireland, three daughters and another son gone with grandkids in tow. Very sad.
It’s heartbreaking sometimes Eimear. And then to hear a minister say it is a lifestyle choice is just disgraceful.
The strange thing is that only now I see the impact on those left behind I realise what I’ve done to my own parents when I left the Netherlands to live in Ireland.
If someone could point me in the direction of the magic wand that the government could use to repair 15 years of damage by previous governments and poor choices by voters, I’ll gladly pass it on to them. It’s an awful statistic, with plenty of heart break behind it. Ireland is a lonelier place day by day. But it’s lazy analysis to blame it on a government that is in power for only 1 and a half years.
Donncha…check Iceland for government.
What we have are yes-men. They salute the Troika, not the tricolour. We got a change of flunkies, not a change of government.
So how long should they get Donnacha? Do you really think they’re going to surprise us all … anytime soon? This lot are not even trying.
Or as the government refers to it, a welcome drop in the employment register, proving the jobs policy is working according to plan.
This is shocking stuff, I wish those young people that had to leave the very best in their new lives, you are Ireland loss and somewhere else’s gain. Try to speak kind of the Irish people as the majority did not cause the problem . Try to remember the good points of the country, stuff you will never find anywhere else in the world….but most of all stay safe and come back successful some time.
Yeah..bring back your money and we’ll rip you off again.
I left two years ago and presently in Dublin from US to attend a funeral. It hurts me to say I am a tourist in my own country.
I wouldn’t say you are a tourist, you are returning home to your family because of a bereavement.
I’ve had a few smart arse comments thrown my way from people at home about the fact that I moved to Britain. I try not to listen – I go where the work is and at the time, there wasn’t any at home. I was offered a job in Dublin yesterday but turned it down because it was a temporary contract with no guarantee of being made permanent. I would happily move to Dublin but I can’t take the risk of giving up a job I like, get good pay for and most importantly permanent employment in London. At least it might give someone at home a chance. I just don’t like having to feel like apologising for my decision to move away…
Who would you be apologising to? Why would you have to apologise? That’s a strange one.
Ann Marie – the smart arse comments u receive at home actually equate to begrudgery. Those making the comments would swap places with u in an instant. If I had the choice between a good job/lifestyle in London or returning to Dublin or Limerick, I know which I would choose and it wouldn’t be either of the latter cities.
Sometimes someone will make the smart comment about “getting away from Ireland when the going gets tough” and “where’s your loyalty to helping the country out” etc. Not a nice to hear things like that when you genuinely left Ireland to find work. My parents are quite happy to see myself and my sister abroad to fulfil our ambitions but I know deep down they’d prefer us at home. I only live in London so its not a massive trek anyway.
If they cannot offer you a job or pay your bills, with no jobs available in Ireland you are doing the right thing for your country. Ignore them they are jealous. Hope you are enjoying London.
@ Ann Marie, I’m in the same boat, green eyed monsters. They are stuck in Ireland with mortgage they can’t pay, house they can’t sell, job they can’t get and no light at the end of the tunnel. Dont apologize or feel guilty for making a life for ureself :)
i’ll be going soon, sure what is here you anyone under 30? its not a prosperous lad for the young,
shit weather, shit jobs, high tax, everything is a rip off, anyone want to add to the list?
Shit government!! That do ya
Shit pubs
Disagree with the high tax there, some would argue that our low tax rates contributed to the deficit crisis. We pay one of the lowest tax rates in the EU even with the tax hike. I live in Italy and the amount of tax they pay compared to their income is insane, not saying it’s right but we still don’t pay high tax in my opinion.
Niamh, you are correct, but in these other European countries the gross salaries are usually much higher so that the pretty much end up with the same net.
And let’s not forget that they actually see a return for their taxes (e.g. services), ours only serve to pay stupid bankers.
I agree with you there Karl, they do see a return in other forms such as healthcare here in Italy. However, the gross salary is lower.
Gross salary is lower in most European countries compared to Ireland
Well Mark, it is kind of like comparing apples and bananas to be honest. In my case, for a similar role I had in Ireland I am on a much higher gross salary, and net earn a little bit more, almost the same to be honest.
The fact that the general cost of living here is much cheaper than in Ireland makes it seem like I am on a lot more + my taxes and social contributions actually go towards things which I would have usually had to pay for seperately in Ireland (e.g. GP visits).
So, based on my experience, not only is the gross higher, but you actually get more bang for your buck based on roughly the same net.
May be different in other EU countries, so I probably shouldn’t have generalised. In my current situation however, it defintely applies.
Karl, I’m guessing you are not employed by the government? Different countries value different skillsets differently. Interestingly enough, the more progressive countries seem to pay more for people with actual skills.
Nope, private sector. Did my part-time masters in Ireland (paid for it myself!) and took it all as far as I could. I was literally not developing any more and was not been given a chance to grow financially or by skill set. Annual appraisal was usually “you were brilliant, but we won’t fund that training course and more money is of course out of the question – bla bla bla”. Yet the funny thing is that you still see those companies still being feckless with large sums of money. Penny wise, yet pound foolish!
Sorry, was sick and tired of that BS. As for staying in Ireland, it is fully up to the individual, it got to the stage where it was simply depressing me. Miss my family and friends to bits, but still feel that I have a better quality of live over here.
As for the question “why are the good ones leaving’ (no, I am not saying that I am necessarily one of those), I would say it is because they are ambitious and can’t get anywhere. The only people the Irish system is protecting at the moment is the wealthy, scamsters and politicians…
What are the statistics on the immigration ? Where are they coming from ? With little chance of joining the labour market in the current economy I would have thought with the exception of those who need to leave their home for humanitarian reasons immigration would be a lot less. What it might expose is that a lot of the tech/call centre /software positions being created require European language skills which have to be filled from other European countries caused by not enough emphasis being placed on learning a foreign language in our schools .
You’d have to wonder how many of the immigrants are people coming back from Australia/Canada/U.S.?
Here are the PPS numbers issued by nationality from the start of the year until the end of August ; http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Topics/PPSN/Pages/ppsn_all_month12.aspx
Not an ideal indicator of the numbers coming in as somebody could arrive here, get a PPS number, then realise Ireland is not their cup of tea and leave but its best I can come up with.
To lose so many, mainly young and educated, Irish people is a real tragedy. When I see what’s coming into the country, there is no doubt we are at the wrong end of a very bad deal.
What’s coming into the country Sean? Really, I need to know who am I with on my journey here.
I’m coming, some of my friends are coming, but I see nothing wrong with this group. I’ve read about Ireland’s history and culture, about geography and natural values and I love what I’ve come to know so far. I can’t wait to get there and work in a nice and warm environment with low corruption for a change.
Another 10 budgets like the next one the central bank forecasts so why would you stay?
missed the letter N there
I noticed that but I didn’t want to say.
niamh there is more taxes than you think, compared to the cost of living our taxes are extremely high, our car tax is the highest in Europe,
Very true, a mere 30 quid compared to the 280 I was paying in Ireland. I almost died laughing when I got the invoice per post…
I left for a number of years and came home. Don’t regret going or coming back. Things are far from being 100% but this is my home and no government is going to force me away again.
Totally understand folk leaving though, many don’t have a choice.
If anyone has a spare room to rent in the Caribbean I wouldn’t say no though :)
Brief last comment (for now).
Its a global financial false-economy scam, managed by the mega-bankers who pulled the cheap-credit loss-leader rug. Its a cyclical system..read a little history. And check out Iceland for leadership.
Wake up, shed your delusional nationalist blinkers, and stop waiting for someone else to solve it while dismissing those who (like the Occupy few) DID stand up, before being cleared out at the Gestapo 3 a.m.
Or do it the Oirish way…keep whinging.
Unfortunately the vast majority won’t believe the truth you speak until these bankers are walking them into a pit.
I think they have already won the fight for our minds. They control the media and so control our perception of reality.
That’s why it’s probably best to do what you can to get out.
So we should increase the amount of immigrants we let in to make up for the loss! :)
Oh I forgot, the Irish don’t like immigrants! :p
we’re a bit racist and won’t do jobs like work in a chipper or clean offices etc because we feel it’s beneath us so we let the foreigners do it… :-)
Why should somebody who spends 4 years in college studying for a degree or out completing an apprenticeship settle for working in a chipper or cleaning offices?
because there is no work in the profession they studied for maybe?
Michael, you are stereotyping immigrants as uneducated and suited to those jobs! Im sure that a lot of the immigrants come here with college degrees but are happy to work in chippers and as cleaners to survive and contribute! Do you ever get altitude sickness looking at people doing those jobs???
Michael, you are stereotyping immigrants as uneducated and suited to those jobs! Im sure that a lot of the immigrants come here with college degrees but are happy to work in chippers and as cleaners to survive and contribute! Do you ever get altitude sickness looking at people doing those jobs????
Dec, If the Irish aren’t here why should we care whether they like immigrants or not?
Why shouldn’t we like them? Any foreigner that I know works, pays tax and loves living here for the most part! For those ‘Over Educated’ Irish that want to leave to get a job in Australia/Canada/US or wherever to contribute to an economy that’s not their own because they are to proud to look at other, temporary options in Ireland I say piss off to wherever and don’t come back and I welcome any nationality to Ireland that are willing to work and contribute and enjoy living here in our Ireland!
Slight misunderstanding.
Damocles, we’ll like them from afar.
There are people (myself included) that are going to emigrate TO Ireland very soon. Young and determined people, very good professionals too. I really hope Irish aren’t racist as some of you state and it’s just a bad joke. Oh, and about the weather… after 5 years in a row with summer peaks of >45 deg. C (yes, shadow temperature) and rain just to fill up a champagne glass, and -28 deg. C in the winter, I’d definitely love the change.
Gone a year now and miss Ireland a lot, but unfortunately there was no choice (not possible to develop any further in my line of work) for me. Every day when I read the news though (government antics, the financial strain being forced on citizens), it is a sublte reminder as to why I left in the first place…
I came back from the U.S ten years ago to be with my family. Now that family are nearly all gone. Only 2 out of 6 left. I have to rethink my whole reasoning being in Ireland again.
The 1980s were the same, everybody seemed to be leaving. Some couldn’t go and had to stay and suck it up. It really galled to see the 80s emigrants returning to lap up the cream of the Celtic Tiger.
I wish the best to all those emigrating but if things improve and if you come back don’t lord it over those who stayed like some returning emigrants did during the Celtic Tiger.
Some of you who are leaving got free third level in Ireland. OK, education is your right as is your decision to take your skills elsewhere.
JFK said “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Few are heeding this advice.
The entire country has done enough! Bailed out the banks, kept civil servants wages and pensions up when we have no money, taken austerity over and over again, accepted a health and education system that gets worse yr on yr are u kidding me? What we can do for our country! Let it default
Hm, so staying in ireland and being on the dole because you can’t get a job would be serving your country??? I am off upskilling and when things settle down and get back to normal I will hopefully be able to return and contribute even better to the economy than I did before.
This country doesn’t care about its people. I wish people would stay and change it too, but when I see and hear the attitudes of the majority I wonder if it’s beyond hope. The peasant mentality of “I’m all right Jack” and “Devil take the hindmost” is still very apparent.
Karl, I wish you well. But how is the country going to magically recover without the skills and talents of our people? The tragedy of Ireland has always been that the wrong people leave, and the wrong people stay. The boom was an illusion, but for a few bright moments we had a glimpse of what things could be like.
The country looks after the wrong people – some people, get sickened, depressed and pissed off with this status quo and leave (I am one of them).
I am sick and tired of seeing greedy politicians and bankers taking people for a ride while they on the other hand are closing down hospitals and letting people die – it is simply barbaric.
I remember talking to people constantly about all the wrongs even went on a few marches etc. The biggest problem that Ireland has is that there is zero solidarity – each for their own. Real shame to be honest. Any time I brought stuff like that up I was being told that I was being too negative and to get over myself.
Then the Tiger crashed…
Why don’t we change the name of the country and start again that way we all left
So how long until you all leave?
Just after the ploughing I’d say.
Someone turn off the immersion!
Leave it running…the tax on my electric indicates its all that sustains the shreds of economic life-support.
Once they’ve finished the land clearance project and mechanised the plantation we can finish off the Donegal to Kerry 18 hole resort and live happily ever after on the industrialised hospitality and offshored tax-free rents.
Sure Eirbase 1 is a handy wee platform for yankee corporate laundering and servicing the resource-wars.
Happy Arthur’s Day.
At this rate it’d take about 50 years for the current native population to leave.
That’s far too long.
Ah but you forget assisted natural wastage a la health-service conversion to sickness industry privatisation.
And once we eradicate the idlers’ allowances for those too feckless to volunteer for internship(we were going to call it industrialised internment, but the spin department said that might be a no-no); intensify the foreclosures on no-compliant householders…why a little natural exposure to elemental competitiveness…they’ll be dropping like the surplus Palestinians on the gentrifying West Bank.
Possibly early next year if i can save enough. Thinking of Scotland and then college there the following year. But i will come back…
Where do they get these numbers, my son is gone, has he been counted? I would be long gone if I was younger, these last four years of austerity, job losses, pay cuts, tax hikes etc, has so many people depressed and downbeat which is counterproductive . When will it all end.
I left Ireland 15 months ago and live in NYC. Last weekend I came home for the All Ireland Final and I left yesterday with a sad heart. There is no greater place on Earth and I for one can safely say, I’ll be home forever one day.
I left 5 years ago and all we do is complain abit.Not the French n Spanish .We will als be fools that do what they are told.Not even having homes taking away from people that they are paying a higher tax for those banks who are taking the homes.SICK
Was in oz for a while back now fair depressing load of friends my age group ) gone off a lost generation has been created probaly heading off again in the new year
The worrying thing is that the young who are leaving are the ones who want to work ! Are we to be left with those who expect state support all the time?
so our own people are leaving and are replaced by immigrants…sounds like a great plan alright!-if someone set out to destroy this country they could not have done a better job!
I would LOVE to move to Ireland from Chicago just because the people are so nice there, and i love everyrhing about it ..But they make it hard on me so I can’t.. I don’t know how people immigrate so easily, let me know the trick !
E.U. Citizenship or people coming back from oz or Canada who didn’t get sponsored.
if i had the money i would be gone, but broke behind with mortgage and a kid doing her leaving,,, good thing, she was born in usa,, phew,,,,, jobs here but government wont give,, applied for driving test in august,, told 8 week wait,, and they would notify me 4 weeks in advance,, ha ha still waiting,, i have to drive my daughter to school every day as no room in local schools,, on unemployment paying mortgage, and 60 euro back and forth twice a day for school,, what a laugh,,, trying to get arrested so i can go on holidays to prison and get 3 meals aday,, what a joy,,, and prefer winter so i wont have to freeze again,, at least when she is driving i can get a job to suit hours of employer,,, if there is a job,, went for interview and knew receptionist, she told me job had gone weeks before, they were doing something for state to get paid,,, another waste of a day,, gotta love Ireland ,, its so corrupt its unreal and enda saying things will be different,, hellloooo,, they all do same politics course,, so they all sound the same and do the same,,,, good luck to all travelling i did it in the 80s and had a wonderful time and loads of money in pocket,,,, i am going to immigrate to Dublin one of these days and go begging on the street, sick of being hungry,,
she took the soup :-p
Loads of off licences to vent our frustration
As today’s government claim that they were handed a mess coming into to power , yet more than a year and a half later they have just overseen the emigration of our highly educated and skilled workers , partly funded by the Irish taxpayer , yet Enda and Co. have done nothing to stop this shame on the lot of them but their day will come when they look for votes , terrible to see so many families broken up at no fault of their own .
Emigration implies you’ll leave but never come back.. But the world is much smaller place these days (were everyone is connected via social media and two weeks wages can buy you a one way ticket to Oz). Point is, how many of these ‘emigrants’ were on temporary work visas to Canada and Australia or even working holiday visas?
That’s not really emigration, that’s just living abroad for a few years
thats what I want to do…..get the hell outta dodge!
The modern Irish “knock knock” joker won’t expect a response of “who’s there?”
Don’t be knocking Knock…its our emergency exit.
The scale of immigration to Australia is unbelievable: http://m.theage.com.au/national/migrant-wave-drives-population-20120927-26o0x.html
The man in the photo doesn’t even recognise the woman waving at him.Should have gone to specsavers..
Suggestion:
Those of you who are puzzled as to why its this way..read a bit of Marx.
Karl, not Groucho…though if you hit Groucho’s sketch about the contract on You Tube it gives a brief summary of the sharp practise thievery that constitutes Billy(whatcha at down there Monica?)Clinton’s stoopid economy.
The market distributes wealth UPwards…economic growth is measured according to the criteria of the already wealthy gluttons…not the standards of living of the general population. Its the same oxymoronic ‘free market’ brought us centuries of famines. There was no shortage of food. Like today, its strictly for the export profits of our tax-exile capitalised class. Look around you..plenty of wealth, just as there are plenty of houses…but homelessness(despite all that emigration)continues to expand…and rents dont decline substantially.
Wakey wakey, Ireland. Britannia(and her Uncle Sam) rules your airwaves.
So our young are leaving while we import all of europe?????
Common case where an article on emigration is met with a ‘One year work visa’ via USIT advertisement underneath it.
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