Revealed: European 'green' investments hold billions in fossil fuel majors

Exclusive: Funds with names such as 'Sustainable Global Stars' have stakes in some of the world's biggest pollutersEuropean "green" funds holding more than $33bn of investments in major oil and gas companies have been revealed by an investigation, despite fossil fuels being the root cause of the climate crisis. Some of these investment funds used branding such as Sustainable Global Stars and Europe Climate Pathway.Over $18bn was invested in the five biggest polluters: TotalEnergies, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP. These topped a 2023 Carbon Majors ranking for oil and gas production among shareholder-owned firms. Other investments by funds following EU sustainable finance disclosure regulations (SFDR) included those in US fracking company Devon Energy and Canadian tar sands company Suncor, the investigation by Voxeurop and the Guardian found.A Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) fund called Europe Climate Pathway had $88m invested in Shell, BP and TotalEnergies. In total, LGIM held $210m in "green" funds.The Robeco Sustainable Global Stars fund had $40m in TotalEnergies. Overall, Robeco held $207m in these funds.Another fund, a State Street product called World ESG had $43m in combined investment in all five of the oil majors. ESG is a label for funds promoting environmental, social and governance goals. In total, State Street Global Advisors UK held $243m in the "green" funds. Continue reading...