Report on environmental risks in the value chain of thermal coal

In June 2015 the Ministry of Finance asked Norges Bank to carry out a specific risk analysis of companies in the portfolio with activities such as coal mining, coal-based energy production and other coal-based energy processing.

In August 2015 we asked the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment to write a report on various aspects of risks facing coal-fired power utilities, thermal coal miners, and coal-to-liquids companies.

The analysis includes a forward-looking assessment of a number of environment-related risks facing coal companies. The report forms part of our efforts to analyse various elements of climate change risk in the portfolio. In the report, the top 100 coal-fired utilities, top 30 thermal coal miners, and top 30 coal-to-liquids companies are comprehensively assessed for their exposure risks such as water stress, air pollution concerns, climate change policy, carbon capture and storage retrofitability, future heat stress, and competition from renewables and gas.

The report was published by the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Download the report (PDF).

Through the publication of an external report on the risks facing companies in the thermal coal value chain, Norges Bank Investment Management hopes both to get access to good data and analyses for our own further use, as well as to provide new topical knowledge to external interests.