Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Sweden’s Central Bank is selling off holdings in Australian and Canadian bonds, because the financial stability of Australia and Canada is at risk if the world agrees to stronger action on climate change.
Sweden sells off Canada, Australia bonds over climate change
Kelsey Johnson
Nov 14, 2019 — 12.14pmOttawa | Sweden’s central bank said on Thursday (AEDT) it had sold off bonds from the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta and parts of Australia because it felt that greenhouse gas emissions in both countries were too high.
Riksbank Deputy Governor Martin Floden said the bank would no longer invest in assets from issuers with a large climate footprint, even if the yields were high.
“Australia and Canada are countries that are not known for good climate work. Greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world,” he said in a speech at Orebro University in Sweden.
“As a result of the new investment policy, we sold our holdings of bonds issued by Alberta in the spring. For the same reason, we have recently sold our holdings in bonds issued by the Australian states of Queensland and Western Australia.”
…
Analysts say the valuations of fossil fuel companies could be at risk if governments move to spur stronger action.
This could pose more problems for Alberta, which is already hurting from five years of low crude prices and pipeline constraints. A number of major firms have sold their Canadian assets or scaled back investments.
…
Read more: https://www.afr.com/world/europe/sweden-sells-off-canada-australia-bonds-over-climate-change-20191114-p53akq
It is intriguing that the Swedish Central Bank has not included the USA, China and India on its list of climate sinners.
Perhaps the Swedish Central Bank’s perception of climate risk only applies to resource rich countries led by politicians who try to play both sides of the climate game.
Who did they sell them to? BTW just noticed your ENSO meter has dropped back a bit I think.
Whoever bought them, they’ve been sold to. Just like any bond, stock or share.
They sold the bonds and no-one even knew until they announced it 🙂
Perhaps Australia and Canada should ban Ikea and lets see who squeals first.
My sentiments exactly. And ban saunas and that Swedish cook on the muppets show — I suppose he cooks with solar.
ffft, a Swedish ’badstuga’ is no replacement for a real sownah.
That’s an outstanding idea! It’s going on my Facebook page.
well exactly….someone jumped on them and bought them all up
…notice they didn’t say anything about having trouble selling them
Which bonds? A list of them might make the story interesting and informative. Otherwise the story is just a splash of green paint on nothing.
I’ve already divested 100% of my Swedish stocks and bonds in retaliation.
The back sells bonds, other people buy them.
Net change to society? Nil.
Geoff S
Who would buy Swedish bonds owing to concern about the risks due to clueless policymakers?
They have much diversity, and hence much strength, no?
All of the Middle Eastern refugees they’re adding to their welfare systems are definitely making what was a monolithic culture more diverse. It remains to be seen whether strength will arise from assimilation, class warfare will arise from isolation or the Swedes will go broke first.
We are going broke and collapsing into a lawless state already. Sweden is comparable to Afghanistan for number of bombings relative to population:
https://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/sverige-j%C3%A4mf%C3%B6rs-med-afghanistan-vad-g%C3%A4ller-spr%C3%A4ngd%C3%A5d-12508993
true, and the banks duty to shareholders to maximise profits?
obviously no one gave a damn
until their shares prices drop;-)
course they’re having enough issues at home with immigrant violence to keep em distracted and maybe planning to invest in things like mil equipment etc
Our prime minstrel May have said those words (hes a parrot ) but he has done everything he can to make sure the oil does stay in the ground. He has no thoughts of his own and is told what to do by Gerald butts. Gerald is mainly responsible fo Ontario’s green agenda.
Great article from Calgary’s Business by Andrew Leach for all the Canadians frustrated with the political circus around our oil industry. “Government roadblocks cripple energy industry”.
https://calgarysbusiness.ca/politicslaw/government-roadblocks-cripple-energy-industry/
“Gerald is mainly responsible fo Ontario’s green agenda.”
Don’t you mean “DISASTROUS green agenda”?
Let’s remember that Gerald Butts is still Trudeau’s right hand man and was the CEO and President of WWF Canada before he got the job.
Not much more you can expect.
Has Sweden already sold off its holdings of all US bonds and other US equities? If not, why not?
Sweden should have the symbol of Janus on its national flag and its currency.
With a GDP less than 1/3 that of Canada, Sweden is a relative pipsqueak. link Who cares what Sweden thinks?
Greta?
HOW DARE YOU!
Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms behind different forms of climate change denial
What the frack? Who thinks that way?
I don’t know but its a good way to start a trade war.
Lefties.
Leftie mind set is ‘Everything would be better if only I was in charge’ (or variations thereof)
The extension of this is that they honestly believe that they are RIGHT and, but another extension, everyone else is WRONG. There is very little opinion allowed. You are either RIGHT (and clearly agree with them on what is best for everyone) or you are WRONG and an enemy.
So, since you are WRONG on climate change there is no rational way that you simply think differently, or have a different view of the science or even would be better off if your local area wasn’t freezing 365 days a year. Instead you must be either a moron, or acting with malice.
Denial, once the clear morons are removed, is to the Left an act of active malice, and by understanding the ‘mechanisms’ behind this malice they are better empowered to combat it. They, after all, know best.
So who thinks this way? Lefties.
You know you’re in trouble when even banks go full retard on “climate change”.
If a rational/reasonable/economic analysis of an entity that sold bonds indicates increased financial risk for that entity, then the bank (or bond owner) ought to sell.
Banks my have a fiduciary obligation to sell.
In Trudeau’s Canada the banks are likely correct on this.
Hose-hooey. This is 100% political from the land of Greta all knowing.
If the political winds blow hard against you, get out of the way. Facts won’t matter.
Look up ” fiduciary.”
Huh, has sweden gone full amish? No carbon at all? No wood burning or oil in the winter time? When did they shut down their nuclear reactors?
In 1980. At least they decided to.
No, they still drive their cars. They just point their fingers at the people who supply them with the fuel.
Mods: Once again, I ask, why do my submissions not post?
There seems to some variance in posts appearing on the page. Sometimes when I post, it appears immediately. Other times half an hour passes before my post appears. I think this is a WordPress issue which no-one can d a thing about.
Immediately! The force must be with you!
Don’t think Sweden’s corporations are abandoning the fossil fuel industry:
Two years ago:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/cenovus-sells-suffield-assets-in-alberta-for-500-million/article36383044/
They just found a better deal, elsewhere. Like Cenovus did.
So resource rich countries have some of the highest GHG emissions per capital. I don’t suppose that might be related to the fact they provide a massive amount of the energy, agricultural, mining and forestry resources to the rest fo the world. This is like closing down the kitchen because of the heat emissions and then later realizing how hungry you get without a good meal once in a while.
Or replacing you car’s engine with another trunk (boot), because your engine burns a lot if fuel, while your existing trunk travels just as far and burns none.
Yes, good point. Net exporters of food and resources such as Canada are naturally going to have high per capita energy use. If we chose to reduce capacity and did not produce an excess for export in order to meet ‘climate targets’ food and raw material prices would increase for everyone.
Call me old fashioned, but I would prefer “Sweden sells off Canadian and Australian bonds over climate change.”
Sweden will soon be a Muslim country and Muslim countries have no problems with oil and gas. The eloi indigenous Swedes who are selling out their culture and heritage will soon be gone or will have emigrated. Problem solved.
Probably been instructed to do so by that 16 year old girl.
Poor Swedes. Sometimes I get the impression that each citizen has been issued an orientation kit that contains knee pads, a tube of KY jelly and instructions showing the proper orientation. Once proud of my partial Swedish ancestry, now I’m glad my ancestors left.
article: “We have these insights, but we come into conflict with them. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms behind different forms of climate change denial, and how this influences the debate and political decisions,” says Martin Hultman, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.
There has to be a hook or catch, no one destroys the bottom line on purpose regardless of insights of denial. Sweden has more serious problems than the good weather caused by climate change such as the degradation of society, losing their culture and country.
Personally I don’t like the believe or else attitude.
“….There has to be a hook or catch, no one destroys the bottom line on purpose regardless of insights of denial….”
In the past, the ‘bottom line’ for the ruler of a country was the survival of that country. he would look to the long-term, and expect to die and hand over a working country to his successor.
With globalisation, the bottom line for any ruler is his own personal survival and the maintenance of his wealth. Often over the very short term.
“Analysts say the valuations of fossil fuel companies could be at risk if governments move to spur stronger action.”
I suspect the real reason. If these countries move forward with “climate change” laws the valve of the bonds may very well plummet as the economy fails. Sell the bonds to remove the risk and show how proper and correct you are about saving the planet.
Glad I read down to here first, Ken.
That was my thought, too. Sweden is bailing before the bonds become worthless and they get to virtue signal in the process. I took it to be a smart move on Sweden’s part where they win all the way ’round.
Yes I’m glad I read down here. Surely it’s a major irony that they sell because of the impact of climate change laws – a real risk of damage to an economy that a bank can forecast – rather than the risk of, like, actual climate change.
And then invest the money wisely in windmills and anything else propped up by taxpayers cash. Sounds like a great strategy. Good luck bailing out of them when it all crashes.
I don’t suppose that the forthcoming Islamic Republic of Sweden will approve of interest-paying bonds anyway. That’s if Sweden as a country survives the next Little Ice Age. Remember the Greenlanders!
Ja, sure, you betcha. Am now embarrassed by my 1/8th nordic genes.
As a Swede i am terribly ashamed. Obviously, the Riksbank is void of people with any scientific training – and so is most politicians, and all state and government agencies, as well as research institutions, it seems. Take the Technical University of Chalmers in Gothenburg, for instance. Mr Hultman, Chalmers, is quoted. He is pursuing research to boost ad hominem invectives and to prove that all climate “deniers” are right wing extremists.
Sorry this is totally off topic, but BBC TV (if you can stream it) is doing a program today about the University in the UK that gave birth to the climategate email cover up.
It’s at 9.00 PM UK time – which is 4.00 PM ETZ.
It’ll clash with the England match, but thanks for the heads up.
Hmmmm, maybe that’s why it’s on at 9pm – where’s my tin foil hat?
‘Analysts say the valuations of fossil fuel companies could be at risk if governments move to spur stronger action.’
Focus on fossil fuel companies shows how stupid the deciders are. They should be selling off everything. The valuations of grocery stores, for example, will be at risk if fossil fuel companies are constrained. No way to get food to the stores; no way for customers to get to the stores. The whole of the modern world will be severely impacted.
So, sell off everything, and start saving dung, canned goods and dried food. Hoard water and toilet paper.
I find your comment logical enough, if fuel use is devalued, then the concern should be that everything that depends on it would be devalued as well! Just remember, the Euro-finance Imperialists have gone full retard, so logic need not apply?
We focus on fossil fuels, but neglect to consider all the other oil-derived products. If you keep oil in the ground, you can pretty much write off the world as we know it. Loss of plastic, alone, would create a huge nightmare. But the loss of most pharmaceutical products would quickly start producing a growth industry in body bags.
OTOH, if they capitulate and allow drilling, but ban using oil and gas for fuel, what will that do to the prices of all oil-derived products? Without the profit from the sale of fuel, those prices would necessarily soar to pay the total freight for drilling and refining.
Forgive them, sane people, for they know not what they do.
The risk they mean is the risk to their Sacred Virtue.
Why is Marxism so alluring? I just don’t see it…
Now that, sir, is an intriguing question. I don’t see the allure either. To live a life regulated and supervised by a bunch of impudent know nothings, where there is no challenge nor chance of rising above subsistence living seems pointless doesn’t it?
you might get a laugh here
https://www.sott.net/article/423713-Millennial-wishes-for-historical-examples-of-socialism-to-study-to-see-how-it-might-turn-out
It appeals to people’s sense of fairness. It sounds great in theory. Most Marxists don’t realize how horrible it is in practice. After the publication of the Gulag Archipelago I’m amazed that anyone is willing to call themselves a Marxist. You really have to be well educated to be that stupid.
The closet Marxists known as Social Justice Warriors (SJW) demand that we offend nobody even accidentally. I just discovered a wonderful quotation by Nietzsche.
When someone complains of microaggressions I am tempted to tell them to grow a set.
When someone complains of microaggressions I am tempted to tell them to grow a set.
such offensive language triggers the young snowflakes who must go to their nearest safe space and cuddle their comfort pets as they contemplate what gender to be today.
Socialism is inherently coercive. It requires that people act in ways that are unnatural. Doing for the community over yourself and your family. People very naturally avoid this and the state becomes progressively more onerous in its attempts to gain compliance. The leaders of this political movement are always the ones who horde power and privilege, putting the lie to their proclamations of equality.
It is hypocrisy in action perpetrated by the worst of humanity.
Just remember, some animals are more equal than others.
I know some who live in nice homes, go to sleep in soft beds in a warm houses on a frigid night, after having good meals and watching TV, who drive nice cars, and take expensive vations, and they are miserable because some people have more than they have.
I have never understood such envy, but it brings its own punishment. It also drives them to socialism just to take things from those who have more.
The AGW scam is working better than they anticipated. In their attempts to out virtue signal each other the Western industrialized countries create their own economic implosions by offloading energy stocks and bonds to countries not taken in by the scam and who will end up controlling the energy sector. Meanwhile the renewable energy sector will end up being a financial burden that will impoverish the people of the “woke” countries an end up redistributing the wealth away from the capitalists.
Bond holders don’t really control anything, other than a preferential place in the pecking order of creditors.
Meanwhile Sweden is attempting to get away from negative interest rates while still conducting quantitative easing. Good luck with that global economic slowdown. Trying to grow an economy based on exports while advocating for no growth is a paradox with political mirrors.
I wonder how much they’ve got invested in Europe
I suspect the real reason they sold them is that the economies of both countries are at risk precisely because they are self-harming with their ‘climate’ policies. In Canada’s case they are putting the country’s export earnings and fossil fuel independence at risk by frustrating the tar sands industry and in Australia’s case governments have placed the economy at risk by replacing reliable coal-fired power stations with unreliable, intermittent ‘renewables’, which in some cases has led to power prices in Australia being the highest in the developed world after having been the lowest in the world just two decades ago.
https://www.afr.com/politics/australian-households-pay-highest-power-prices-in-world-20170804-gxp58a