The Carbon Bubble

Is there a time bomb lurking in your retirement account? Investors holding a variety of index and mutual funds own a chunk of fossil fuel stocks. England's central bank recently said that coal, oil and natural gas reserves that determine the future earnings of those companies, and therefore the stock prices, may be overvalued. If that fuel is burned, average temperatures will rise to levels that will create havoc in food supplies and economies. In other words, oil and coal companies are propped up by hydrocarbons that will become unburnable at some point in the future. The prevailing view on Wall Street is that energy companies will diversify and their balance sheets won't implode if world leaders get serious about limiting carbon pollution. However, a growing number of financial firms are starting to say the idea of a carbon bubble should be taken seriously. Join a conversation about the risks of owning energy stocks in a hot and wobbly world

Speakers: Anthony Hobley, Carbon Tracker Initiative; Kurt Billick, Bocage Capital