On the 13th and 14th February, investors around the world will be encouraged to end their love affair with fossil fuel investments “Think about it,” said Margaret Steadman from Climate Action Hobart, “Do you know if your bank or superannuation funds are being used to support industries that will not only have a very negative impact on your children’s future, but could very well have a negative impact on your life savings in the process?”
So what is divestment? Divestment is simply the act of selling or moving assets away from one investment area into another. The reasons for doing so can be economic, social or ethical.
Divesting from fossil fuel industries has previously been promoted by organisations such as 350.org and Market Forces as an ethical or moral decision. However as global governments mobilise to meet the threat of climate change, and it is clear the more than two thirds of the established fossil fuel reserves will have to remain in the ground if we are to have any hope of halting dangerous climate change, there is a real risk that any investments in these businesses will become “stranded assets”, leaving investors at risk.
Indeed last year the $860 million Rockerfeller Brothers Fund divested their assets from fossil fuels, despite the foundation of the family’s fortune being built on oil. As Valerie Rockerfeller Wayne stated in Rolling Stone magazine last January,“ If you look back when our founder John D Rockerfeller Snr got into the business the world got its oil from whales. His big breakthrough was to get oil from the ground. The breakthrough now is going to be clean energy. You should be there at the forefront. Those are the investors who are going to make the most money.”
Thus far, 181 institutions and local governments alongside thousands of individuals representing over $50 billion in assets have pledged to divest from fossil fuels. These include the World Council of Churches, the University of Glasgow, Stanford University, the Church of Sweden, the British Medical Association, many Anglican Dioceses in Australia and local councils such as Marrickville.
According to a study by Oxford University, the fossil fuel divestment movement is growing faster than any previous divestment campaign in history and presents a far reaching threat to the fossil fuel industry’s bottom-line.
Actions are happening all around Australia as part of the global divestment days. Representatives from Climate Action Hobart will be distributing information and holding signs outside the Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and NAB branches in the CBD on Friday 13th February between 12-2pm. “We will be adding to the pressure on banks to stop funding new coal, oil and gas projects and urging customers to divest from banks that continue to invest in climate-destroying industries”, said Margaret Steadman from Climate Action Hobart.
More information:
www.gofossilfree.org (See the list of global events on this weekend at http://gofossilfree.org/divestment-day/)
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-logic-of-divestment-why-we-have-to-kiss-off-big-carbon-20150114#ixzz3PoDNmdAW
Margaret Steadman from Climate Action Hobart
