The drawbacks and dangers of oil and gas divestment by William McNally
Appeared in The Financial Post on March 9, 2022
Gina's Thoughts
InvestNow featured the longer version of this article in our first Story of the Week of 2022. A lot has changed in the world in two months, and as a result, the author has inserted some new thoughts about divestment. "As the west divests, however, Vladimir Putin and others have been more than happy to pick up the slack. Worldwide production has not fallen. Instead, western divestment has helped enrich and embolden non-western actors." InvestNow has always maintained that if the oil and gas that society wants and needs is not provided by Canadian companies, it will come from state-owned suppliers from such countries as Saudi Arabia, The Gulf States, Russia and Iran. This is playing out in real time. "Divestment won't stop fossil fuel production because it does nothing to reduce actual energy demand." Every leader, director, or member of corporations, university governing councils, public pension plans, or any other institution contemplating divestment - and indeed every Canadian - should realize that a vote for divestment is a vote against Canada and Canadians.
