Ireland to Sell Off its Investments in Fossil Fuels

The Republic of Ireland's lower house has voted to sell off all the country's holdings in coal, gas, oil and peat 'within a reasonable time period'- assumed to be around 5 years (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/12/ireland-becomes-worlds-first-country-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels). The arguments in favour of doing this include of obvious link to climate change and the less obvious conclusion that, as reserves are already too high to burn without contravening International agreements, such investments are inherently risky (the bottom might drop out of the share value). Some people argue, to the contrary, that selling the investments reduces the ability to influence the behaviour of companies trading in hydrocarbons. I suspect that there are likely to be people who will snap up the shares.