The University of Portland is a great University for many reasons. One of them is that UP puts a lot of effort into being environmentally friendly and sustainable. But unfortunately the University is still investing in fossil fuels through its endowment fund. UP needs to divest, because the fossil fuel industry is everything that sustainability is not: fossil fuels are highly polluting, non-renewable, and a major cause of climate change. Fossil fuel divestment has two goals: First, it aligns actions with values. For UP, divestment would be a great next step in becoming more sustainable, a topic that is already of such high importance to the University. Second, divestment changes the public discourse on our collective energy future. It’s time for the University to take action.

If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. There is overwhelming scientific evidence of the link between climate change and carbon emissions. More than 450 major organisations worldwide have taken positive action and become part of the solution by pledging to stop investing in the fossil fuel industry. This has resulted in $2.6 Trillion being removed from Fossil Fuel companies. Organisations signed up so far include many universities, the British Medical Association, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The Quakers and Oxford City Council.

Pensions are about giving us a secure future. But our future security is fundamentally threatened by climate change. Our pension funds should not be investing in oil, gas and coal firms when we know we must leave 80% of all fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change. We welcome the decision that you made last year to divest from tobacco companies because of their impact on the people of Greater Manchester, and urge you to take a similar approach with fossil fuel companies.

Beverly, like every city, town, state, and country, is at a pivotal moment in history. Man-made climate change is causing environmental devastation and human suffering here in Beverly and around the world. We still have the power to avert irreversible changes, but the window of opportunity is closing. Divesting from the fossil fuels that are causing climate change is a crucial step toward ensuring a sustainable future for Beverly and the rest of the world. Our local government has a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying our future, and reinvest in solutions to climate change. We can not count on the federal government, even as extreme weather events like the record-breaking winter storms of 2014-2015 overwhelm local budgets. We have the solutions, but we won’t see any political progress on the issue until we can weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry. The bottom line is this: divestment is the only moral choice for governments that care about their citizens. Solving the climate crisis is the only practical choice for governments that care about their solvency. It's time to divest from fossil fuels now!

The consensus for action on climate change is overwhelming. Over 97% of climate scientists globally[2] , the CSIRO[3], United Nations, the Australian Academy of Science [3] and every major national science academy in the industrialised world [5] agree the planet is warming and the observed changes are almost certainly caused by human green house gas emissions and they agree that we need to act now. Virtually every government has acknowledged the threat of climate change and have agreed that we must limit an increase in global temperature to 2 degrees. Amongst the health profession, the World Health Organisation[6], the Australian Medical Association[7], Australian Medical Students' Association[8], Australian College Rural Remote Medicine[9], Australian Nursing Federation[10], Australian Physiotherapists Association[11], Australian Psychological Society[12], Public Health Association of Australia[13], Royal Australian college of Physicians[14], Australian healthcare and hospitals association[15], Members of the Climate And Health Alliance (CAHA)[16] and members of the Global Green and healthy hospitals network[17], all agree that this is an issue that we need to address now. Climate change is responsible for the deaths of 400,000 people globally each year and is costing the global economy $1.2 trillion annually[18]. References: (All last accessed: 21st May, 2013) [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/19/carbon-bubble-financial-crash-crisis [2] http://www.pnas.org/content/107/27/12107 [3] http://www.csiro.au/en/Outcomes/Climate/Understanding.aspx [4] http://science.org.au/policy/climatechange-g8+5.html [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change#Statements_by_scientific_organizations_of_national_or_international_standing [6] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html [7] https://ama.com.au/node/4442 [8] http://media.amsa.org.au/policy/2010/2010_climate_change_and_health_policy.pdf [9] https://www.acrrm.org.au/country-watch-6-january [10] http://anf.org.au/documents/policies/PS_Climate_Change.pdf [11] http://www.physiotherapy.asn.au/DocumentsFolder/APAWCM/Advocacy/PositionStatement_2017_ClimateChange.pdf [12] http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/Position-statement-climate-change-August2010.pdf [13] www.phaa.net.au/documents/policy/20081006revisedClimateChange.pdf [14] http://www.racp.edu.au/index.cfm?objectid=F30B227E-D741-D52C-7E5B74679D3F43BF [15] http://ahha.asn.au/sites/default/files/publication/15361/120726_greening_hospitals_and_healthcare_services_-_policy_brief.pdf [16] http://caha.org.au/about/members/ [17] http://greenhospitals.net/members/ [18] http://www.phaa.net.au/documents/121002Inaction%20on%20climate%20change%20now%20a%20leading%20cause%20of%20deaths%20globally.pdf See also: http://lockthecampus.org/

Suffolk County Council says it wants to be the “Greenest county” yet its latest pension fund figures (September 2015) showed it had £11 million worth of Shell shares – 5% of its total holding in UK shares. Campaign groups estimate that in 2014 it held in total £117 million worth of fossil fuel assets. [1] All local authorities in Suffolk contribute to this pension fund, including Ipswich Borough Council, Waveney District Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Mid Suffolk District Council, Forest Heath District Council and Babergh District Council Investing in fossil fuel creates a risk both to members of the pension fund and to the planet. Respected financial analysts warn that fossil fuel companies are likely to be over-valued due to their reliance on reserves in the ground which will become worthless if carbon legislation comes into effect. [2] Only a fraction of fossil fuel companies' reserves may be extracted and burned whilst keeping within the 2°C climatic warming target agreed by the world's Governments at international climate negotiations. [3] Suffolk should sell its fossil fuel investments and follow the example of several other local authorities who have invested cash in local sustainable projects such renewable energy, energy efficiency or building much needed energy efficient social homes. This blog by Friends of the Earth Scotland gives some examples. http://www.blog.foe-scotland.org.uk/index.php/2015/06/6-local-governments/ This would provide local jobs, a stronger local economy and reliable long term, low risk returns for the pension fund. [1] http://gofossilfree.org/uk/pensions/ [2] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/19/carbon-bubble-financial-crash-crisis [3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30709211

Right now the Surrey Pension Fund has around £90 million invested directly in climate wrecking fossil fuels despite the efforts of our DivestSurrey campaign and many similar campaign groups across Surrey to persuade them to divest. Thousands of people across the country are asking why local authority pension funds such as ours in Surrey deem it acceptable to fund companies like BP who have a committed £41 billion looking for new fossil fuel reserves over the next decade. It is absolutely senseless! Help us persuade the Surrey Pension Fund to remove these investments by signing up to our campaign. Many thanks Steve McDonald

Fossil fuels are finite. This system can't last forever because eventually there comes a point where there is no more left to extract that won't cause catastrophic damage. Dirty oil practices is a result in trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Fracking, arctic drilling, offshore drilling, and tar sand expansions are unsafe. This will be at the expense of who lives here and call this island home. Where do we draw the line? Companies and corporations who extract won't draw it because it goes against profits. This is ultimately the same reason they don't allow market competition of oil substitute products and green energy. Profits. There's a limit of how much is safely extracted, what can be extracted and if we don't draw the line for them, then we rush headlong into a future without a safety net or a plan. WE ALL must be responsible for protecting a healthy planet and an economically sound country. Divest now to allow progress with energy reforms, to let them become possible. Profit is the language that corporations speak and divesting speaks volumes. It tells them no more irresponsible behavior. No more reckless behavior. Find a new sustainable way or move over and let another progress us forward into a better future for all

By continuing to grant social legitimacy to the burning of fossil fuels, our council is complicit in driving unprecedented climate change. The warming of our planet is harming people by the millions through the more frequent extreme weather events hitting communities across the world. We must do all we can to keep fossil fuels in the ground to avert runaway climate change and stop our climate warming above the 2 degrees C. We are already seeing the disastrous effects of climate change across the globe. Allowing companies to explore and drill for more fossil fuels like Fracking or drilling in the Arctic, can only lead to more damage to our climate and fragile eco-systems. Scientists have recently estimated that fossil fuel reserves still in the ground are approximately three times the size of that which can be burnt to have a 50:50 chance of staying below the agreed target of 2 degrees C of global average warming. Therefore, actions to avert catastrophic climate change will soon deem investments in fossil fuel reserves ‘stranded assets’. This represents substantial risk for investors and pensioners. It is for these reasons that the fossil fuel divestment movement is the fastest growing divestment movement the world has ever seen. Currently Warwickshire County Council has £88,368,000 invested in Fossil Fuel investments: £33,107,000 in direct investments including: 1 BP PLC ORD USD0.25 £9,815,000 2 BG GROUP PLC ORD GBP0.10 £7,322,000 3 RIO TINTO PLC £6,998,000 4 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC B SHS £5,742,000 5 TULLOW OIL PLC ORD GBP0.10 £2,012,000 With a further £55,261,000.00 projected in indirect investments. Institutions across the world are already committing to divestment including: Oxford City Council, the British Medical Association, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Warwick University. PLEASE SIGN if you believe Warwickshire County Council should Divest from Fossil Fuels.

Our local authority has a duty to look out for the public good. Fossil fuels are in direct conflict with the public good:investing in them poses a risk to both investors and the planet. Even President Obama has admitted that 'no challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a change in climate'. Over 97% of scientists now agree that climate change is fuelled by the burning of fossil fuels. This causes problems both worldwide and within Hampshire, where we will see increasing areas of low lying land become prone to flooding. Institutions around the world including local government, universities and churches are pulling out of fossil fuels investments and moving towards a cleaner energy future. It's now time to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in a better future. Financial research has called into question the valuation of fossil fuel companies due to their reliance on reserves which would become unburnable if international carbon legislation comes into effect. Divestment from fossil fuels would minimise the council's exposure to the financial risk of the 'carbon bubble', whereby shareholders risk being left with 'stranded assets' (worthless fuels stocks that regulations will prevent from being burned.)

Pensions are about giving us a secure future. But our future security is fundamentally threatened by climate change. Our pension funds should not be invested in oil, gas and coal companies when we know we must leave 80% of all fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change. Our local authorities have a duty to look after the public good. Fossil fuels are in direct conflict with the public good: investing in them poses a risk both to pension members and to the planet. So Devon County Council should take a moral, political and economic stand against them by taking our money away from fossil fuel companies and putting it into investments that are less at risk from climate change legislation. Divestment from fossil fuels would make a powerful statement that the fossil fuel industry is morally and economically unviable, and that the people of Devon wish to support an alternative, sustainable energy future that will leave the planet in a shape that allows us, our children and grandchildren to live safely on it. .......................................................................................................................................................... Template letter (please adapt and use your own words as much as possible, talking about why this issue is important to you): Dear Councillor In 2019, Devon County Council ranked 14th among UK local authorities for the amount of its pension fund invested in fossil fuels. The Devon Pension Fund had £157 million invested through passive portfolios, with the two main companies being Shell and BP. The core business models of Shell and BP are based on the extraction of fossil fuels with absolutely no prospect of change within the timescales required by the Paris Agreement. Both these companies plan to continue exploration for years to come and are opening new oil wells in UK waters. Brunel Partnership who manage the fund have made a commitment to net zero by 2050 and to reduce the fossil fuel investments of the Devon Pension Fund by a minimum of 7% a year. Such incremental change would have been possible had we begun thirty years ago, but the International Energy Agency (IEA) have concluded that exploitation and development of new oil and gas fields must stop this year and no new coal-fired power stations can be built if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating. Cllr Bloxham has defended the position of the DCC Pensions and Investment Committee saying that “to achieve real emissions reductions it is vital we engage with the companies we are invested in, to hold them to take responsibility for their products”. Both Shell and BP and many of the others indirectly funded by the DCC Pension Fund have spent decades, and continue today, to spend millions of pounds a year funding lobbying groups to suppress the science, spread misinformation and confusion which has resulted in widespread climate denial and inaction. The best way for DCC to influence these companies is to join the growing number of local authorities and organisations, such as the Methodist Church and many Universities, who have removed their investments and placed them in alternative funds. I therefore demand that: 1) DCC fully divest its pension fund from all fossil fuel investments in the next 12 months 2) DCC informs all pension holders in the Local Government Pension Scheme of the current fossil fuel investments and produces a roadmap for divestment with clear milestones 3) DCC works with the relevant agencies to develop and fund a low carbon investment programme for Devon The safety and security of the people you represent depend on strong action on the climate crisis. Divest Now!

Climate change is accelerating. We are witness to the increasing impacts of anthropogenic warming on the planet; 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. The scientific community is unanimous in connecting the acceleration and intensification of these climate disasters to the burning of fossil fuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which includes more than 1,300 scientists from around the world, concur that warming beyond 2 degrees Celsius will cause irreparable, catastrophic damage to our world. Much of this damage will be felt by those least able to bear these burdens, and least responsible for warming the atmosphere. To remain below 2 degrees, we can release no more than 500 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Yet, fossil fuel companies such as Exxon, BP, and Peabody have over 2,795 gigatons of CO2 equivalent in reserve. These companies already have the financial impetus to surpass the 500 gigaton mark. 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.