Create a Jewish Fossil free Jewish Community

Even as extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, floods, droughts and fires threaten to overwhelm local budgets, government action to solve the global climate crisis is all but stalled. 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.

Signatories to the Jewish Climate Covenant have agreed to take action across our communities to support global efforts to tackle climate change. We stand with those calling for strident and just global measures to limit global average temperatures to a 1.5 degree rise by the end of the century. To achieve this, we know that over 80% of fossil fuels must be kept in the ground. We hope such action will protect the poorest and those most vulnerable to the impacts of global environmental change.

To that end we urge Jewish synagogues, charities and companies to adopt socially and environmentally responsible investment practices in line with the prophetic traditions of supporting the weak, protecting the land we live on and Tikkun Olam. This includes an investment portfolio that explicitly excludes fossil fuels .

We have a responsibility to not profit from an industry that’s destroying our future, impoverishing people around the world and undermining the good work of Jewish people of faith around the world.

The bottom line is this: moving money away from fossil fuels is the only moral choice for institutions that care about the planet and its residents. It's time we realise that action to prevent climate change is not an option, but a crucial part of our religious duty as Jews.