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
Enjoy life with the bear next door.
WSJ
One of Russia’s biggest helicopters landed on a tiny island between Finland and Estonia this summer and disgorged materials and engineers who quickly threw up a helicopter base for the Russian military.
The construction on Gogland, in the Gulf of Finland, adds a new military launchpad in a region that could be front line in any conflict between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Both sides have built up their forces there in recent years, with tensions at their highest since the end of the Cold War.
Sitting between a NATO country and a Nordic ally, the base doesn’t add much military might. But its construction appears to be in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to keep his neighbors on edge.
Well they took ‘Suursaari’ in WWII by force, so we only expect them to continue being hostile.
Russia is no friend to its neighbours.
I certainly wouldn’t put any money in the Swedish bank or support them. They aren’t a bank, they are a political party. Any ROI is strictly fake promises.
Ohhh Noooo! What ever will they do with all that sweet viking money?
There is no doubts this is a smart move there is no doubts that countries where green zealots control the agenda are disasters waiting to happen. In Canada this is obvious and in Australia the government is looking pretty shaky in its ability to withstand the constant attacks from the greenies. Unfortunately whilst our Conservative party is not as bad as the opposition action on climate change is a bipartisan approach.
Global investors who sell Shares or bonds in UK, Canada, much of Europe, Canada and Australia and holds on to China , US and India will do well. There is a strong correlation between action on climate change and deteriorating economies.
And somebody bought them. If I had any Swedish bonds I’d sell them on the grounds that children are running their economy.
‘It is intriguing that the Swedish Central Bank has not included the USA, China and India on its list of climate sinners …’.
What about the neighbour and close relative Norway?
The Norway has a veritable fossil-fuelled economy.
Forget climate change, Sweden has a more immediate (self-inflicted) problem:
https://www.steynonline.com/9818/internal-contradictions-of-the-multicultural
Did they sell them at a premium? I had to ask since the golden rule of green virtue signaling is to not mention price.
“the bank would no longer invest in assets from issuers with a large climate footprint, even if the yields were high.”
This sentence is the real giveaway. This is not about making decisions based on economics and risk, but rather about ideology. Now that we know their central bank has lost the plot, the real message here is for all countries to sell Swedish bonds and completely divest from investments in that country.
That is pretty much what this has opened up the action is targetted and publicized so it is an attack on another country by a government entity. Those countries have right to retaliate aka a trade war and because of the problems of selling to the EU as a non EU country you know which way the trade imbalance is.
The trade for example between Australia and Sweden won’t be large but it will be in the favour of Sweden.
So lets check the official figures (https://dfat.gov.au/geo/sweden/Pages/sweden-country-brief.aspx)
Pretty much exactly what you would expect
Nobody should really care what Sweden does. The Western world has caused itself enough pain worrying about Europe and it’s stupid decisions over the past 100 years or so. Far too much blood and treasure has gone from the new world to those imbeciles. As for “per capita” measures, they are ludicrous on their face. Canada and Australia had NOTHING to do with the population growth policies in places like India and China over the last 100 years. They did it themselves. The only reasonable measure (if one needs a measure at all) is emissions per square mile of the area of the country. That will account for EVERYTHING in each country. Population, land use, agriculture policies, forestry practices, mining, water……everything.
Well said Joey…… +11
This Aussie is also annoyed at the suggested implications, not the actual sale, because we are one of the few countries likely to meet our Paris commitment. The hypocrisy of not selling off Indian and Chinese bonds is also clear as they have a free pass until 2030. If there is such a climate emergency then why do these two countries get to keep on emitting while destroying the only countries that actually do anything about the so called emergency and pay for everyone else.
I think commonsense has lost the battle and it will only be when the crazies running this agenda find the consequences of their policies also affect them, hat things will change. By then many many people will have been damaged unnecessarily.
We should all have a wry smile when we hear stories like this, it’s a dog eat dog world and every time woke organisations like Sweden’s Central Bank kick an own goal it sets them back and pushes the rest of us a little further in front.
Go woke go broke, keep fighting the woke fight Sweden.
Indeed. If Sweden wants to “go woke and go broke” I say let them. Their losses are gains for others.
Sweden sold Iron Ore, Molybdenum and SKF ball bearings to Germany during World War II and collected money from Germany for transporting Axis troops by rail through Sweden to stab Norway in the back in the Axis invasion of that country. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Sweden allowed the Wehrmacht to use Swedish railways to transport (June–July 1941) the German 163rd Infantry Division along with howitzers, tanks and anti-aircraft weapons and associated ammunition from Norway to Finland. German soldiers travelling on leave between Norway and Germany were allowed passage through Sweden. Sweden, like Switzerland, emerged from World War II as a wealthy place, unlike the rest of Europe. The Swedish group moral record is not high.
What part of neutral do you not understand?
They had no reason not to sell goods and services to the Germans. Morality has nothing to do with it.
If you want to talk immorality, we gave tanks to the Soviets. Even delivered them. At least the Swedes made the Germans PAY for the goods and services.
As Gamecock points out, they were considered neutral during the war. That means they don’t treat other countries (in this case Germany) as enemies. As such, they had no reason not to do business with the Germans. Germany wasn’t the only country they were doing business with. And while they were letting the German troops to use Swedish railways, they also acted as a refuge for anti-fascist and Jewish refugees from all over the region In 1943, following an order to deport all of Denmark’s Jewish population to concentration camps, nearly all of Denmark’s 8,000 Jews were brought to safety in Sweden. Sweden also became a refuge for Norwegian Jews who fled from German occupied Norway (I noticed you didn’t quote that part of the wiki article you stole most of your post from when attacking Sweden’s “moral” record).
I would hope then that the Swedish government immediately shuts down all mining equipment manufacturers and operating mines.
It seems that they are listening to their own little Grrrrrretalin.
Postie “tty” in another thread said Sweden had gone insane. Looks like “tty” was wrong. Sweden has gone more insane.
They can use the money to hire more police to fight the rape crisis and granade attacks in the no go zones.
I suspect Sweden’s “climate change” explanation is a smoke screen.
Sweden’s economy is in serious trouble with an unemployment rate of 7.4% and GDP growth of 0.1%. I suspect the truth is Sweden Central bank is reading it’s tea leaves and concluding a severe world-wild economic down turn is coming soon (say within two years). Hence, Sweden is throwing is fellow “climate change friendly” countries under the bus starting with the most vulnerable. Both Canada and Australia have significant housing bubbles bubbles, high related mortgage debt, and few options in an economic down turn. Thrown in the fact that Germany is headed into recession, the Euro is doomed, and the rest of Europe will go the way of the Euro. Well you can see the coming mess.
And add to that that Sweden led the band wagon of negative interest rates and the Euro zone lapped that policy up without considering the impact of negative bond rates on the world’s repurchase (repo) market and the resulting impacts on the real economy.
Seriously did it not occur to Sweden and the EU that the short term banking repo markets wouldn’t begin to charge high interest rates when too many of the world’s AAA rated government bonds had a negative interest rates? I mean really… who going to use these bonds as collateral for a short-term loan when the collateral itself is losing the lender money? At that point it doesn’t matter how high a bond is rated, a negative yield on any bond is nothing more than an up front default. Did they really think the worlds banks were that stupid? And did they not consider the policy itself would effectively push vulnerable German banks towards a bankruptcy cliff? Or that U.S. banks would wise up and balk at taking the same path… leading the current U.S. repo phenomenon and causing the U.S. Central bank to provide artificial liquidity due a shortage of “safe” positive yielding government bonds?
Well… you can see Sweden’s problem. I don’t see Sweden selling U.S. bonds since the U.S. can, in a relative sense, “prosper” in a world down turn.
The bottom line… Sweden can’t take many more hits and its headed for the economic exits not to “save the world” but in a desperate effort to save itself.
Those ultra smart Swedes have obviously read in one of those colouring books in the children section of the Malmo City Library that Canada is in the tropics and all those greenhouse gases are a result of the proletarit using those damned air conditioners all year round – I mean can’t those peskey Albertans (of which I am proudly one BTW) at least turn the A/C off over their typical tropical winter amd stop having those BBQ’s – a bloody disgrace they are!!!
NOTE: Malmo City Library recently burnt down and both books were totally destroyed, and, one wasn’t even coloured in yet.
roflmao!!
they had TWO books?
wow
+++++++ wipes coffee from screen n keyboard
When a person or corporation sells something, then there has to b e a buyer.
So as usual its a case of Virtue signalling.. Look at me, I am so good.
So the buyer considers these bonds to be of long term value.
MJE VK5ELL
Stock Change performance is as predictable as climate change :
https://www.google.com/search?q=Sweden+bonds+profit+warning&oq=Sweden+bonds+profit+warning&aqs=chrome.