Reining in loose change

A movement to divest of fossil fuel shares as a means to limit global warming is gaining momentum. Marguerite Marshall encourages Christians to steward their finances to support care of the earth.

Divesting our fossil fuel shares and investing in clean renewable energy goes to the very heart of our lives as Christians to care for God’s creation and to love one another.

That’s because, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), to achieve a relatively safe climate with a rise of two degrees Celsius, two-thirds of the currently known oil, coal and gas reserves must be left in the ground.

The Uniting Church in Australia is setting an example in the Queensland Synod, which has no fossil fuel investments. The Synod of New South Wales and the ACT also recently decided to divest theirs.

As individuals we can do the same. The Vital Few and Market Forces are divestment campaigns which run websites on how to contact our superannuation fund and lobby the four big banks.

According to a report compiled by researchers from Australian, American, British and Canadian universities, an overwhelming 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that the major cause of climate change is greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. The Uniting Church is in line with this consensus by accepting humans are causing climate change.

Barbara Stocking, chief executive of Oxfam GB and Global Humanitarian Forum board member says climate change brings severe and frequent natural disasters.

“Climate change is a human crisis which threatens to overwhelm the humanitarian system and turn back the clock on development. It is also a gross injustice—poor people in developing countries bear over 90 per cent of the burden through death, disease, destitution and financial loss, yet are least responsible for creating the problem,” she says.

Divesting of fossil fuel shares is in line with the international Go Fossil Free campaign led by US award winning environmentalist and Methodist Sunday school teacher, Bill McKibben. In the United States, ten cities including Seattle and San Francisco have announced plans to divest their fossil fuel shares.

Divesting shares can be very powerful and effective as it targets the financial system which funds the fossil fuel industry. Action by the international community on the anti-apartheid divestment movement significantly contributed to the fall of the South African apartheid government, according to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Over 2600 Australians recently signed an open letter to the big four banks demanding that for the sake of the environment and economic responsibility they should stop funding new fossil fuel projects.

What can the ordinary person do? We can divest our shares in fossil fuels, buy green power and install solar panels on our rooves. You can also contact your local member of parliament telling them to support the rapid development of renewable energy and to stop subsidising fossil fuels.

To read and sign the open letter visit openletter.marketforces.org.au

Marguerite Marshall is a Uniting Church member and was trained by Al Gore as a leader in The Climate Reality Project managed in Australia by the Australian Conservation Foundation. She is a presenter for Beyond Zero Emissions with the University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute.