Bill and Melinda Gates sold off all of their foundation’s holdings in British Petroleum during the end of 2015 as a part of a divestment push.
The Guardian reported Thursday the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sold off a $187 million stake in BP between September and December 2015, its entire stake in the company.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation previously sold off its $824 million investment in ExxonMobil. The report stated the foundation’s investments in major fossil fuel companies have dropped 85 percent in the last two years.
Bill Gates has previously spoke out against divesting from fossil fuels, calling the practice a “false solution,” the Guardian reported.
Divestment campaigns aim to make a point by withdraw investments in the fossil fuel industry, which many scientists blame for driving manmade climate change. The campaigns are meant to send a message that investing in oil and coal companies is a risky move.
However, academics and industry observers have said divestment campaigns are ineffective and can actually hurt what environmentalists are trying to do, which is to decarbonize the economy. Divestment rarely hurts oil companies and can remove climate-conscious investors from shareholder meetings.
In November, Bill Gates announced he would be leading a group of 28 investors committed to investing in companies that can bring clean energy to the marketplace.
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition brings together billionaires like Richard Branson, Tom Steyer, Jeff Bezos, George Soros and Mark Zuckerberg to invest in companies they believe can help make clean energy widely available. The goal of the coalition is to help speed up the pace of innovation in order to fight the effects of climate change.
