This report focuses on the risk of losses in the financial value of existing fossil fuel assets (so called ‘asset stranding’). The key findings of the report include: a) transitioning to a low-carbon electricity system would bring the global economy an estimated $1.8 trillion in financial savings between 2015 and 2035; and b) coal offers the largest emissions reductions for the least loss in financial value where transitioning away from coal can achieve 80% of the needed emissions reductions for just 12% of the asset value at risk.

For the EU, some of the key findings include: a) with the right policies, the EU’s transition away from oil can lead to a net benefit to the financial system of more than $1 trillion, for instance through a combination of pricing and innovation policies to reduce demand for oil; b) the EU has little to lose from a transition away from coal power where the total value of current investment in coal plants at risk is less than 2% of EU power plant investments; c) good electricity market design could preserve the value of the remaining coal plants by paying them to provide flexible generation to balance out renewable energy; and d) EU governments own the majority of upstream coal assets (primarily in Poland, Greece, and Germany), and approximately 40% of coal-fired power plants. In Europe, new business and financial models and instruments that are better suited to investor needs can reduce the cost of renewable energy by up to 20%.