With a focus on climate and energy The deflationary act, which is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden this week, The Wall Street Journal asked Dealogic to analyze the amount of money loaned to green and oil and gas companies. Investors, WSJ concludesare not ready to give up fossil fuels.
But the data shows that they are already starting to retreat.
Fossil fuel financing has been more or less stable since 2015, when the WSJ/Dealogic data series began. For oil and gas companies, this should be a worrying trend given the generally low interest rates and the amount of money that has been splashed into the market over the past few years.
Issuance of investment grade bonds jump in 2020 before falling to still-high levels in 2021. Yet fossil fuel investment did not follow the trend, falling slightly instead of rising with the market.
Bonds and loans for renewable energy projects and companies did the opposite, ticking steadily higher from 2015 onwards. In 2021, they more than doubled from the previous year, equaling the amount invested in fossil fuels for the first time.
This year, renewable energy companies remain on par with oil and gas companies.