Finance specialist Ryan Riordan’s research shows that it’s become increasingly clear that the success of Ontario’s financial and industrial sectors depends on a quick move toward a low-carbon transition.

What others have called “fossil-fuel entanglement” has meant the province and even Canada’s respected pension and banking sectors may have been acting against their own best interests by investing in a fossil-fuel sector that could see sharp losses.

Riordan, an associate professor of finance at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. observes that market trends have become increasingly obvious.

The Exxon Mobil signal

Friday, the Financial Times reported that the clean energy group NextEra had become more valuable than Exxon.

“The biggest one was Exxon Mobil leaving the Dow Jones index,” he said, noting that the company that had been on the exclusive list of top U.S. industrial giants for close to 100 years was kicked off last month after market capitalization fell from $340 billion US five years ago to $160 billion.

While inevitably the Alberta oil and gas economy will continue to suffer from the rush for the door, he said, the success of the Ontario-centred finance sector will depend on getting out of those positions before they lose their value.

Source: Ontario, Alberta face a growing split as economic interests diverge over fossil fuels | CBC News