Here's why we should invest in polluters to save the climate

Engagement has proven more effective than divestment.

This column is for Callaway Climate Insights subscribers only, but it’s OK to share once in a while. Was it shared with you? Please subscribe.

(Mark Hulbert, an author and longtime investment columnist, is the founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest; his Hulbert Ratings audits investment newsletter returns.)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Your most climate-friendly investment strategy may be to buy shares in ExxonMobil XOM 0.00%↑ , Royal Dutch Shell SHEL 0.00%↑ and other huge producers of greenhouse gas emissions — and then let them know how you feel.

That’s just the opposite of what most climate-friendly investors want to do. They want nothing to do with those companies, choosing divestment over engagement. But that is likely to be counterproductive, according to a new study that the National Bureau of Economic Research began circulating two weeks ago.