MPs warn that carbon bubble may hit savers

MPs say an incoherent stance on green energy has left investors over-exposed to fossil-fuel firms (EPA)

A £600bn carbon bubble has grown as a result of the government's inconsistent approach to supporting green energy, according to MPs.

The Commons Environmental Audit Committee warned that weak political will had allowed investors to significantly overvalue fossil-fuel companies.

This is because if the world is to limit climate change, more than half of the world's fossil-fuel reserves will have to remain in the ground.

Companies should be forced to inform investors about their carbon exposure, the committee said.

Rebecca O'Connor of Trillion Fund, a renewable energy crowdfunder, said: "Pension savers and investors will suffer if the carbon bubble bursts. They have a right to know whether they are exposed.

"It has 'next financial scandal' written all over it. If asset managers and pension funds ignore the threat, they face being accused of negligence.

"They could be accused of squandering billions on potentially disastrous investments, because they were not taking seriously enough the climate-change risk and what the cost of dealing with it could do to financial markets."