Jenny Cottle
Climate Change is a problem – weather patterns are more extreme and news out this week is that the west Antarctic ice sheet is melting, which will cause major rises in sea levels. Whilst this may not be able to be reversed, it can be slowed, but it will take real action now.
Fortunately this is starting to happen, and one of the key game changers is divestment.
Put simply, divestment is a movement to stop indirect involvement in fuelling climate change through investments with fossil fuel companies. Begun by 350.org in 2012, as part of Bill McKibben’s Do the Math speaking tour, the campaign calls for colleges and universities, as well as cities, religious institutions, and pension funds to withdraw their investments from fossil fuel companies. 350.org explains that the reasoning behind this campaign is simple: “If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage.”
Twenty-six religious institutions, 22 cities, two counties, 11 colleges and universities, 19 foundations and several other institutions have committed in some form to divest from fossil fuels. The Dutch town of Boxtel became the first city outside the USA to divest from fossil fuels in October 2013.
Earlier this month Stanford University in California announced plans to divest its US$18 billion endowment fund from coal investments. Two weeks earlier, the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, outlined its plans to create a fund that will exclude fossil fuels. And last September, five New Zealand based Anglican Dioceses voted to divest.
Only a few days ago Dunedin City Council has become the first council in New Zealand to divest itself of fossil fuel investments to highlight their impact on climate change. The Dunedin City Council ethical investment policy will formally exclude the munitions, tobacco, fossil fuel extraction, gambling and pornography industries from its investment portfolio.
This week Deutsche Bank divested itself. Deutsche Bank has announced it will not fund the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland, Australia.
These wonderful acts to address climate change have been the result of people power, and you can play your part. Use the links below for information about how you can divest from fossil fuel.
Get Social