Firms may be forced to disclose fossil fuel exposure

UK energy secretary Ed Davey has called for a debate on forcing companies to disclose their exposure to fossil fuels so that investors know the risks they face as cleaner forms of energy are required.

“There’s a case for making it mandatory,” Mr Davey said in Lima, Peru, where he was attending talks about global warming organised by the UN.

“In the interests of pensioners, their precious savings, they need to know if there are extra risks that are attached as we transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Scientists say less than a third of known fossil fuel reserves can be burned if the world is to keep climate change to manageable levels.

Capping the increase in temperatures at the 2C level endorsed by UN envoys would require reductions in burning oil, coal, and natural gas.

Those companies have $28 trillion at risk over the next two decades, according to Mark Lewis, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Paris.

One option proposed for the UN talks is to adopt a goal to phase out fossil-fuel emissions by 2050.

Mr Davey said he wrote to the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, to ask for a meeting about the topic, which is known as “stranded assets”.