The Museum earns investment income from companies that profit from the extraction of fossil fuels, whose role in energy production is a major contributor to global warming. This undermines public confidence in the sincerity and validity of the Museum's programs for transmitting scientific knowledge. The other major Chicago science museum, the Field Museum, announced on November 13, 2015 that it had divested from fossil fuels some time ago. It is long past time for the Museum of Science and Industry to do so as well.

Climate change is already causing massive destruction around the world. For the sake of all of our futures, we need to move away from fossil fuels and begin the transition to a clean and just energy economy, now. Many of the fossil fuel companies that West Midlands Pension Fund invests in have a poor environmental record, including ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, spilled 11 million gallons of oil off the coast of Alaska and plans to drill in the Russian Arctic with Rosneft. BP, another West Midlands Pension Fund investment, was responsible for the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. Fossil fuel companies are also highly overvalued due to the assumption that all of their reserves will be burnt. But as policy catches up to climate realities, this overvaluation means there’s a multi-trillion dollar “carbon bubble” that’s poised to burst. This will greatly effect the value of our pensions if West Midlands continues to invest in fossil fuels. We know that 80% of current fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground to prevent runaway climate change. We must act now!

As a leading educator of future scientists, the Bronx Science endowment should not invest in companies that profit from carbon pollution. Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50 billion in damages. Scientists agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years.

Ban Ki-Moon convened a special UN Summit to catalyse action from world leaders to tackle the looming climate crisis last September. He is fully aware that we must leave 80% of the world's known fossil fuel reserves underground and immediately stop exploration for new ones. He must recognise the importance of putting the UN's money where its mouth is and lead the way by divesting the UN's Staff Pension Fund from fossil fuels. The UN Joint Staff Pension Fund is worth over $53 billion and represents the retirement savings of the majority of UN employees. By divesting the UN Pension Fund from fossil fuels, the UN can show that divesting from fossil fuels is both financially responsible and morally necessary. The UN can lead the way in mobilising other pension funds, institutions and investors to withdraw from the industry responsible for the climate crisis and begin to shift investments into the much-needed alternatives. On 21st September 2014 over 700,000 marched in cities and towns across the world to demand climate action, not words. Ban Ki Moon personally accepted a petition signed by over 2 million people whilst on the streets of New York, standing shoulder to shoulder with the People's Climate March. Now he must lead the way, and turns his words into action by divesting the UN Pension Fund from fossil fuels.

Die internationalen Klimaverhandlungen stagnieren, während die CO2-Emissionen weiter dramatisch steigen. Dabei gehört die Nutzung von Kohle zu den größten Treibern des menschengemachten Klimawandels. Selbst die Internationale Energieagentur (IEA) warnt eindringlich, dass keine neuen Kohlekraftwerke mehr gebaut werden dürfen. Einige öffentliche Banken, darunter die Weltbank und die Europäische Investitionsbank, schränken ihre Kohleinvestitionen massiv ein – nicht jedoch die KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau). Dabei tragen alle Investitionen in Kohle und in andere fossile Brennstoffe dazu bei, dass sich eine „Kohlenstoffblase“ bildet: Die nachgewiesenen Rohstoffreserven von fossilen Unternehmen (nach denen sich ihr Börsenwert berechnet) enthalten etwa fünf mal so viel CO2 wie maximal noch in die Atmosphäre ausgestoßen werden darf, wenn die Erderwärmung auf 2°C begrenzt werden soll. Deshalb formt sich eine Bewegung, die von Universitäten, Kommunen, Banken, Pensionsfonds fordert, ihr Geld nicht mehr in fossilen Unternehmen anzulegen, also zu desinvestieren. 350.org hat nun mit dieser Arbeit in Deutschland begonnen. Gleichzeitig sind Desinvestitions-Kampagnen in Schweden, den Niederlanden, der Schweiz und in England aktiv. Der große Erfolg der Fossil Free Kampagne in den USA, Australien und Neuseeland zeigt, dass wir auf dem richtigen Weg sind. Um den Schwung der Fossil Free Europe Tour in Berlin zu nutzen, wollen wir als erstes der KfW Beine machen: Sie fördert zwar seit vielen Jahren Energieeffizienz, erneuerbare Energien sowie Umwelt- und Klimaprojekte, doch gleichzeitig konterkariert sie ihr eigenes Engagement, indem sie aktuell am Neubau von mindestens neun Kohlekraftwerken, zwei Kohleminen und mehreren Kohleinfrastrukturprojekten weltweit beteiligt ist. In Kürze will die KfW über einen Kredit für das neue Braunkohlekraftwerk Ptolemaida V in Griechenland entscheiden. Nun ist es an der Zeit für uns zu Handeln: So wie die klima-allianz deutschland und urgewald e.V. fordern wir die KfW auf, zukünftige Investitionen in Kohleprojekte zu stoppen und bei Ptolemaida V zu beginnen. Wir bitten Euch: unterzeichnet die Petition an die KfW, Investitionen in Kohle zu stoppen. Go Fossil Free.

I want to invest in a livable future for all of us and the generations to come. Continued dependence on fossil fuels is not environmentally sustainable. With the escalation of global warming, it has become clear that it is financially reckless and morally wrong to support business as usual in fossil fuels development.

"If it's wrong to wreck the climate, then it's wrong to profit from that wreckage"! Det är inte många institutioner idag som placerar sina tillgångar i vapenindustrin - det är helt enkelt betraktat som omoraliskt. Människor håller med varandra om att vapen inte är okej att stödja. Det klimatrörelsen insett är att olja, kol och gas också är vapen - vapen riktade mot atmosfären, klimatet och vår framtid. Därför är det inte okej att placera sina pengar hos, och därmed stödja, fossilindustrin. Fossil Free är en internationell kampanj för att flytta våra gemensamma tillgångar (skattepengar och andra resurser) från investeringar i olja, kol och gas. AP-fonderna består dessutom av pengar som ska ge oss en dräglig framtid. Det blir därmed motsägelsefullt att dessa pengar samtidigt bidrar till stora klimatförändringar och en ohållbar energiförsörjning. Det ligger i såväl ungas som äldres intresse att AP-fonderna blir fossilfria! Se gärna "Do the Math", en film som beskriver problematiken med att fossilindustrin ges fria tyglar (med stöd av våra pengar): http://vimeo.com/66066932

Renewable energy is the way for the future and renewable energy does not harm the environment

Because climate change

The London Borough of Ealing has money invested in the fossil fuel industry. Fossil fuel contributes to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Scientists say we must reduce this amount of carbon dioxide in order for the planet to be able to continue to support life and civilisation as we know it. The planet is already one degree warmer and glaciers are disappearing, threatening the main source of clean water for millions of people. Sea levels are rising which means some islands are disappearing. Habitats are changing and wildlife and the livelihoods of many communities are at risk. Extreme weather is becoming more common. It's deeply worrying but we can take action. Stopping fossil fuel investment is an important part of tackling global warming and we would like London Borough of Ealing's ties with the fossil fuel industry to be cut.

There is strong evidence (1) that the impact on climate change of burning even the known reserves of fossil fuels will create an unsustainable environment for the generations to come, and untold suffering to countless living beings. This fact will impact negatively on the value of investments in the industries concerned with fossil fuel extraction. Using just the fossil fuel reserves listed on the world’s stock markets would be enough to take us beyond 2°C of global warming (2). This means that more than 80 per cent of the world's known coal reserves, 30 per cent of known oil and 50 per cent of gas reserves need to stay in the ground and drilling in the Arctic is out of the question if we're to stay below two degrees. Recent drops in the oil price add to the uncertainty surrounding fossil fuels and the financial viability of some extractions presenting opportunities to lessen our dependency on fossil fuels (3). In defiance of mainstream research evidence and international policy (4), fossil fuel companies continue to extract and burn as much carbon as possible to maximise their profits. Despite the very high probability of planetary disaster they show no intention of switching away from their core business model. Our local council has a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying the very future for ourselves and for our children that personal investment in a pension seeks to enhance. Instead it should reinvest in solutions to climate change. We won’t see any political progress on climate change until we can weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry. Divestment for fossil fuel investments would also minimise the council's exposure to the financial risk of the 'carbon bubble', whereby shareholders risk being left with stranded assets (worthless fuel stocks that regulation will prevent from being burned). It is a paradox that pension funds providing income for the future should at the same time be investing in the fossil fuel industry which if left to its own devices will exploit more of the fossil fuel reserves than we can safely use! Institutions around the world including local government, universities and churches are pulling out of fossil fuel investments and moving towards a clean energy future (5) It's time to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy now for inescapable moral and economic reasons. Bristol City Council have recently agreed to make a commitment to no direct investments in the fossil fuel industry and globally over 30 cities and municipalities have already committed to divestment. At present Bristol City Council’s funds are not directly linked to the fossil fuel industry. However, the Avon Pension Fund does have significant fossil fuel investments and so Bristol City Council would need to work with adjoining councils within the Avon Pension Fund to freeze and withdraw those investments. Shareholders (including pension funds) have started to challenge Exxon, Shell and BP to show how their business model is compatible with a 2 degree temperature rise (6). Some argue that engaging with fossil fuel companies is a more effective tactic than divestment. But Jonathon Porritt, one of the UK’s most esteemed environmentalists who spent years working on sustainability projects with BP and Shell, earlier this year said engagement was now futile because “hydrocarbon supremacists” at the companies had successfully ousted reformers wanting to diversify into green energy. Divestment, therefore, seems to be an unavoidable step to halting the damage and suffering which will ensue unless timely action is taken. 1 http://350.org/about/science/ 2 http://math.350.org/ 3 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530043.100-over-a-barrel-falling-oil-prices-and-the-environment.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029415.700-an-oil-crash-is-on-its-way-and-we-should-be-ready.html#.VNI0c9kgGc0 4 http://www.ipcc.ch/ 5 http://zerocarbonbritain.org/index.php/zcb-latest-report 6 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/21/bp-challenged-confront-climate-change-risk-by-shareholders