As both the World Bank and United Nations chiefs strengthen calls for divestment from “high carbon” assets, more than a dozen foundations representing more than $2 billion in assets said they would stop investing in fossil fuel companies.
The Divest-Invest Philanthropy coalition includes foundations, such as the Park Foundation, the John Merck Fund and the Schmidt Family Foundation, co-founded by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, in the United States, as well as the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
http://econews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Ellen-Dorsey-executive-director-of-the-Wallace-Global-Fund.jpgReuters Newsagency reports the coalition members said continued investment in fossil fuels presented financial and ethical risks and they urged other foundations to follow their lead.
“Starting today, we pledge to use all our assets, not just the usual five per cent yearly payment of grants, to advance our goals, values and beliefs,” said Ellen Dorsey, executive director of the Wallace Global Fund and the originator of the Divest-Invest initiative.
The foundations said they would follow in the footsteps of a few successful historical divestments, including movements that targeted apartheid South Africa starting in the 1960s.
http://econews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/christiana-figueres-chief-UNFCCC.jpgReuters reports the announcement came amid growing calls made at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos and by UN climate chief Christiana Figueres urging companies to back away from investing in carbon-intensive fuels.
Meanwhile, student movements in the US have put pressure on their universities to divest from fossil fuels.
“And we are relying on a growing list of financial analyses that refute the conventional wisdom that divesting from fossil fuel stocks leads to greater risk or lower returns,” said Ruth Hennig, executive director of the John Merck Fund.
Thttp://econews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/oil-opec-nw-md.jpghe International Energy Agency said last year that if governments were really committed to limiting the rise in global temperatures, two-thirds of the currently known oil, coal and gas reserves would have to be left in the ground.
However, the non-profit Carbon Tracker Initiative estimated that the top 200 oil, gas and mining companies have planned $674 billion to finding and developing even more fossil fuel reserves.
The divestment group said that continuing to invest in fossil fuels was a financial risk, as it exposed companies to a “carbon bubble” when cleaner energy sources were a more attractive investment.