The fossil fuel divestment movement began with student protests calling for their university endowments to divest from any company involved with fossil fuels. The movement was quite effective over time as university endowments pulled out of fossil fuels. In addition, the divestment movement has expanded to demand that mutual fund managers pull out of fossil fuel companies and that endowments and mutual funds invest in clean energy. A 2013 study by HSBC bank found that between 40% and 60% of the market value of, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other European fossil fuel companies could be wiped out because of stranded assets caused by carbon emission regulation.
The reaction of energy companies has been mixed in response. For example, BP announced they will be pivoting from fossil fuel exploration to become a clean energy company. ExxonMobil, on the other hand, has announced it will continue exploring fossil fuel and has committed to a massive new investment program in fossil fuel exploration (Matthews, 2020).