Sunday, January 17, 2021
GMO test
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Investing
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
    • GDP
  • Energy
    • Solar
    • Wind
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Wildfires
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
  • Technology
    • Food
    • Health
    • Buildings
    • Renewables
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Climate Change
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Psychology
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Investing
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
    • GDP
  • Energy
    • Solar
    • Wind
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Wildfires
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
  • Technology
    • Food
    • Health
    • Buildings
    • Renewables
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Climate Change
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Psychology
No Result
View All Result
GMO test
No Result
View All Result
Home Uncategorized

Faith Groups that have Divested from Fossil Fuels

by Richard Matthews
February 16, 2015
in Uncategorized
0

Faith groups are among the 180 institutions that have divested from fossil fuels so far. A total of 50 billion has already been divested from fossil fuels and investors representing assets of $1.2 trillion have made the divestment pledge. In 2014 alone the number of institutions that have divested has more than doubled and the number keeps growing in 2015.

Last September, faith communities were among the 800 fossil fuel divestment commitments referenced by Vice President Al Gore in a speech at the UN Climate Summit in New York. Faith groups are joining the divestment movement alongside universities, local governments, banks, medical groups, and foundations.


Here is a chronological review of some of the faith communities that are leading the global divestment movement.

April 2013

The Uniting Church of Australia – New South Wales, an amalgamation of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, became one of the first institutions worldwide to divest from fossil fuels.

June 2013

The Council of the First Universalist Church of Pittsfield, Maine voted to sell its more than 1600 shares of Exxon Mobil stock and pledged to make its entire portfolio fossil fuel free within five years. This move is based on one of the church’s Seven Principles, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence.”

July 2013

The United Church of Christ became the first major denomination to vote to begin divesting from fossil fuel companies.

February 2014

The Uniting Church investment body, UCA Funds Management, announced it would pull out of thermal coal and unconventional oil investments, and in the summer of 2014 the church’s national body, the Uniting Church in Australia, agreed to divest.

June 2014

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) a faith-based organization of more than 1,000 congregations with an investment fund of $175 million, voted overwhelmingly to divest from fossil fuel companies.

The University of Dayton withdrew all of their petrochemical investments to become the first US Catholic college to divest from fossil fuels.

The flagship of American progressive Protestant theology, New York City’s Union Theological Seminary announced its plans to pull all investments in fossil fuels from its $108.4 million endowment. The unanimous vote of their board made them the first seminary in the country to take such a step.

July 2014

At their yearly meeting, the Quakers Eco-Justice Working Group of Philadelphia announced that more than $2 million of assets have been divested from fossil fuels and reinvested in a new Quaker Green Fund.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), decided to divest from fossil fuels. WCC is an umbrella organization made up of 345 member churches which represents over 500 million Christians in more than 110 countries.

September 2014

GreenFaith released a statement signed by over 80
prominent theologians and religious leaders in support of fossil fuel
divestment and reinvestment in a clean energy future. 

The New Zealand Quakers also endorsed the divestment movement. The Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn and the Perth Diocese of the Anglican Church passed divestment motions at their annual Synods.

The Church of Sweden completed full divestment from fossil fuels. The Church of Sweden is a divestment pioneer whose assets totaling $691,292,490 are now completely fossil free.

October 2014

The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand voted to divest its funds from fossil fuel companies at its biennial General Assembly in Auckland. It also encouraged its church members to do the same with their personal investments.

January 2015

The United Methodist Church’s General Board of Pension and Health Benefits announced it would no longer invest its $21 billion of assets in thermal coal companies, or utilities that derive 75 percent or more of their electricity from coal-fired power plants.

February 2015

On February 11th, 2015 a group from Christian Climate Action (CAA) protested against the Church of England’s investments in fossil fuels at Church House, London during the General Synod. This follows the General Synod’s vote in March 2014 to review its investment policy in respect of fossil fuel companies. At this Synod one bishop referring to climate change as “the great demon of our day”.

There are now almost 700 campaigns focused on divestment around the world and that includes strong representation from faith based organizations.

Source: Stewardship of the Environment

Related Articles
Why Faith Communities are Divesting from Fossil Fuels
Implications of Pope Francis’ Environmental Encyclical and Attacks from Republicans (Videos) 

Pope’s Environmental Encyclical Supports the Poor While Demanding Change from the Rich
Leaked Papal Encyclical Lauds the Climate Movement and Derides Deniers
Faith Based Environmental Leadership
The Vatican’s Climate Conference Calls for a Moral Awakening that Includes Rejecting Fossil Fuels
Video – How Religion can Energize Ecological Renewal
Why Christianity is Important to Action on Climate Change
Pope Francis the Environmentalist
Crafting a Positive Environmental Narrative
How Morality Can Win the War on Climate Change

ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Economic Costs of Harper’s Support for Fossil Fuels and Neglect of Renewables

Next Post

Canadians Do Not Share Harper’s Oil Obsession

Related Posts

Unprecedented Wildfires in 2020 are Connected to Climate Change

by Richard Matthews
December 29, 2020
0

The intense wildfires that raged across the Western U.S., South America, and Australia in 2020 are being attributed to climate change. What makes these fires unprecedented is their size and...

American Courts are Defending Democracy and the Environment

by Richard Matthews
December 14, 2020
0

Despite unprecedented challenges, America's legal system has held. In recent weeks the courts have repeatedly defended democracy and in the last four years they have overturned a wide range of environmental...

Boycott Culture and Brand Influence During Trump’s Presidency and Beyond

by Richard Matthews
December 8, 2020
0

Brands wield enormous influence over popular culture and whether they are pursuing core social values or trying to preempt boycotts, brands are finding it harder to ignore social, environmental and political...

Next Post

Canadians Do Not Share Harper's Oil Obsession

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • SoundCloud

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Business

Corporate America’s Break Up with Trump & the GOP

by Richard Matthews
January 15, 2021
0

Resistance to Donald Trump started shortly after he announced his intention to run for public office, but it was not...

Read more

Climate Change is Fueling Deadly Extreme Weather and Costly Climate Disasters

January 13, 2021
protected areas and new species on the map of the world

Summary of Positive Biodiversity Stories

January 11, 2021
images of extreme weather events

Long Term Warming Trends Tell Us What We Need to Know

January 9, 2021

Trump Leads an Insurrection after He and the GOP are Rejected in a Historic Election

January 7, 2021
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Investing
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • Social Change

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • GDP
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
  • Energy
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
    • Solar
    • Wind
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
    • Wildfires
  • Investing
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Technology
    • Buildings
    • Carbon Capture
    • Climate Change
    • Food
    • Transportation
    • Health
    • Renewables
  • Social Change
    • Education
    • Activism
    • Psychology
    • Marches

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In