LONDON-Carbon-intensive firms are likely to lose 43% of their value thanks to policies designed to combat climate change, a report says.
Meanwhile the most progressive companies will see an uplift of 33% in their value.
The forecast was commissioned by the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
Representatives of fossil fuel companies told the BBC they were already adapting their businesses to take climate change into account.
But the PRI study suggests major winners and losers will emerge between, and within, big sectors.
Car-makers with the swiftest transition to electric vehicles (EVs), for instance, are projected to increase in value by 108%, according to the study by Vivid Economics.
Manufacturers slow to move to EVs will see their value fall, as governments realise that petrol and diesel models must be phased out faster for climate targets to be met.
Meanwhile, the study predicts that the world’s largest listed coal companies could fall in value by 44%. And the 10 biggest firms in oil and gas could lose 31% of current value.
Electric utilities with the strongest strategy for renewables could see values increase by 104%, while laggards could see them fall by two-thirds.
Miners producing minerals critical for the transition may see a 54% upside, while those with the smallest share of “green minerals” will witness valuations almost halving.
Car firms should switch to making electric vehicles quickly, said the study
Agricultural firms with high exposure to “sustainable” biofuels and non-beef protein sources could gain at least 10% of current value.
Those exposed to under-pressure sectors such as cattle may lose between 15% and 43% - depending on their links with deforestation.
The figures are inevitably speculative, and rely on an assumption that politicians will be forced to respond strongly to the growing climate crisis – which, given current political progress, remains debatable.
Firms already under pressure
But they do echo the warnings issued by the Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who said firms ignoring the climate challenge would go bankrupt.