Nearby Petitions

All Petitions

• Worcestershire County Council Divest from Fossil Fuels

  It has been reported (http://gofossilfree.org/uk/pensions/) that the Worcestershire County Council Pension Fund has £197,423,000 (10.74% of its total pension fund) invested in fossil fuels. If fossil fuel companies extract and burn just 20% of the reserves they hold, this will cause catastrophic climate change (extreme weather, food shortages and conflict). The urgency of stopping climate change requires that we progressively stop burning fossil fuels now. It is irresponsible and immoral for public bodies and pension funds to invest in fossil fuel extraction companies and instead they should, where possible, direct investment into 'green energy' infrastructure. Fossil fuel companies are 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 they are still invested in Fossil Fuels.

  115 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Matthew Jenkins
• 

  Divest Pilgrim Lutheran From Fossil Fuels

  We are a Caring for Creation congregation. Aligning our investments with our values is important to us.

  25 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Drew Johnson
• Petition to Divest Case Western Reserve University From Fossil Fuels

  Humanity is at a precipice. In October 2018, the United Nations International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) stipulated that humanity would have to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. The science is clear that institutions must play a role in the mass effort to avoid climate catastrophe. The 2017 Carbon Majors Report found that just 100 fossil fuel companies have been responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988. If we are to avoid the least catastrophic side effects of increased global temperature, which include droughts, floods, and famines increasing in both frequency and severity the longer we fail to act, “the world would have to leave two-thirds of its fossil fuel reserves unexploited” As a result, it is downright abhorrent to continue harboring any connection to an industry that bears significant responsibility for the crisis that disproportionately harms low-income, and minority communities, in addition to threatening the future of each and every human being. Specifically in regards to the Cleveland community, our region has been detrimentally impacted by heightened droughts and floods—the results of which reverberate through agriculture and infrastructure development, contributing to widespread, systemic, environmental racism. CWRU’s $1.87 billion endowment currently has an undisclosed exposure to fossil fuels, an industry that has led an attack on science and climate crimes against humanity. The destruction perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry is not accidental. The Climate Deception Dossiers, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, contains over 300 pages worth of documents and internal memos from fossil fuel companies that display a deep understanding of potential implications as far back as the 1980s. Even more unforgivable is the evidence of “forged letters to Congress, secret funding of a supposedly independent scientist, the creation of fake grassroots organizations, multiple efforts to deliberately manufacture uncertainty about climate science and more.” CWRU cannot credibly claim to be an institution that promotes scientific inquiry and academic integrity, nor can it continue to assert that the university holds self-stated core values such as “academic freedom and responsibility,” “ethical behavior” and an “emphasis on sustainability” while continuing to invest in publicly traded fossil fuel companies. There is undeniable evidence that fossil fuels have been and will continue to be an increasingly imprudent investment. As shown in the report written by American University’s Student Government Financial Research Office, which led to the university’s subsequent divestment several months ago, “indices without fossil fuel investments perform better than those with such investments...fossil free investments have practically identical, often lesser, volatility as compared to their traditional counterparts, speaking to their sustainability.” The report continues with the evidence that divestment does not impair an investment portfolio, stating that “portfolios that divest from fossil fuels and utilities and invest in clean energy perform better than those with fossil fuels and utilities.” Finally, the report explains how investing in fossil fuels is, contrary to popular belief, an extraordinarily high-risk endeavor. These risks arise from a number of sources: global policy changes aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; evolving technology which has the potential to undermine the success of fossil fuels, exemplified by the prediction that “LED lighting will reduce electricity consumption for lighting by 40 percent between 2013 and 2030”; and the potential for fossil fuels to become “stranded assets” through various pressures which will render them liabilities. All these factors contribute to the estimate that average annual returns may fall up to 74% and 63% in the coal and oil subsectors, respectively. Fossil fuel divestment is not only a decision which is morally right, but one which is also realistic and financially sound. On April 22, American University announced that although they had “had no direct investments in fossil fuel funds for several years,” they [had] divested all of its public fossil fuel investments from its endowment. In AU’s case, much of the fossil fuel exposure was “concentrated entirely in commingled funds.” However, in what CWRU might call “Thinking Beyond the Possible™ ,” over just several months, AU’s Board of Trustees eliminated the remaining $12.9 million of fossil fuel exposure within the public endowment portfolio by selling “$350 million in commingled and index funds, with the proceeds reinvested in investments that do not include any fossil fuel holdings.” Institutions such as American University, in addition to the University of Hawaii and Pratt Institute, have set the gold standard for complete divestment by showing not only, that it is realistic with both financially and socially responsible leadership, but also that joining these few universities gives CWRU the opportunity to establish itself as a leader in combating the climate crisis. Continuing to ignore calls for divestment will undeniably stake the university, members of the board of trustees, and administrators sides in history as complicit in the continuing irreversible harm to the Cleveland community, and humanity as a whole.

  306 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Jack Turner
• 

  Go Green

  We have no planet B to live in. It's time to divest fossil fuels and move to renewable energy.

  10 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Asmaa Hanafi
• TIAA-CREF indeed let us choose fossil-free!

  This is why it matters for you to ask for your personal pension to get moved within TIAA-CREF (or to put pressure on your profs to do so, if you're a student!)... As of June 2020, we had a quarter billion $ in teacher pensions in TIAA-CREF's Low Carbon Social Choice fund, but it's a TRILLION $ fund, so more $ needs to be shifted here; https://www.tiaa.org/public/pdf/Social_Choice_Low_Carbon_Equity_Fund_Q_A.pdf We recognize that most industries rely somewhat on fossil fuels, but we also recognize that certain industries play particularly large roles in promoting climate change, the most critical global challenge to environmental, social, and financial sustainability, and this Low Carbon Social Choice fund allows us to put our $ where our mouths are.

  645 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Erica Frank
• 

  Divest Montgomery County from Fossil Fuels!

  The nations of the world (including ours) have pledged to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) - because any warming beyond 2 degrees will recklessly endanger human civilization. Regrettably, they are struggling to develop a meaningful plan by which to make good on this pledge. Meanwhile, the world's fossil fuel companies already have assets in hand (i.e., coal, oil and gas currently in the ground, awaiting extraction) that -- if extracted and burned -- will make it impossible to limit the warming to 2 degrees. In fact, their assets in hand are 5 TIMES MORE than can be safely used if we are to limit the warming to 2 degrees. The Board of Investment Trustees for the Montgomery County Employee Retirement Plans recently stated that, as of December 31, 2014, over $65 million in the pension funds it oversees are invested in 65 of the top 200 fossil fuel companies. The current fossil fuel portfolio of the MCERS includes over $10 million invested in such oil and gas companies as BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, and millions more in companies engaged in mountain-top mining of coal such as ArcellorMittal and Arch Coal. Montgomery County can do better. Studies show that divestment will not adversely affect the pension fund yields. Moreover, because people are likely to wake up at some point and put the brakes on fossil fuel use, most of today's vast known fossil fuel reserves will remain in the ground, causing a significant drop in company valuation. Thus, divestment not only makes moral sense, but financial sense as well. Our aim is to have Montgomery County sell off its multi-million dollar fossil fuel investments. Why? Because divestment works. For example, in the 1980s divestment was a major factor forcing South Africa to abandon apartheid, a previously immovable object. Similarly, the fossil fuel industry has overwhelming influence in Congress, preventing our representatives from passing crucial laws to limit climate change. The industry wears the guise of respectability, despite the fact that their business plan seeks profit from the destruction of our environment. Through our divestment campaign, we are announcing to the world that we do not wish to be associated with the fossil fuel industry. We can strip it of that illusion of respectability. Our goal is to make that industry a pariah. Our Members of Congress will become sensitized and will find it more embarrassing to be associated with fossil fuel companies. With that, the influence of these companies will decline, and our chances for essential legislation will strengthen. At the same time, fossil fuel companies may finally decide to develop renewable energy sources. Even as extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, floods, droughts and fires threaten to overwhelm local budgets, federal action to solve this 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. The bottom line is this: Divestment is the only moral choice for institutions that care about the planet and its residents. Solving the climate crisis is the only practical choice for governments that care about their solvency. Let's do this in Montgomery County! Please: (1) sign the petition; (2) encourage other adults in your household to sign; (3) broadly share the petition with other MC residents via Facebook, list serves, etc.; and, most importantly, (4) target at least five of your like-minded friends via a personal contact to sign the petition and ask them to do the same with their friends.

  2,162 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Geoffrey Kidd
• 

  DivestSurrey

  The Surrey Pension Fund now has £145 million invested directly in climate wrecking fossil fuels. The United Nations has recently warned us that we have just 12 years to urgently cut our CO2 emissions or face an eco system melt down. In short we face the most awful consequences if we continue to financially support this industry. Please help us persuade the Surrey pension Fund to remove these investments by signing up to our campaign.

  546 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Steve McDonald
• A CALL TO DIVEST AVON PENSION FUND FROM FOSSIL FUELS

  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

  1,000 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by richard lawrence
• 

  Divest the Unitarian Universalist Association's Common Endowment Fund

  The Unitarian Universalist Association is a leader in climate justice. This year, the final divestment report will be given at the General Assembly online this June 24-28. This was the resolution: Delegates at the 2014 General Assembly (GA) of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) meeting in Providence, RI, today passed a resolution calling for divestment from fossil fuel companies in the UUA Common Endowment Fund (UUCEF). The resolution requires the UUA to: Cease purchasing securities of CT200 companies as UUCEF investments immediately. Continue to divest its UUCEF holdings of directly held securities of CT200 companies, reaching full divestment of these companies within five years. Work with its current and prospective pooled-asset managers for the purpose of creating more fossil fuel-free investment opportunities, with the objective of full divestment of UUCEF indirect holdings in CT200 companies within five years. Invest an appropriate share of UUCEF holdings in securities that will support a swift transition to a clean energy economy, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency-related securities. Report, via the UUA President and the Treasurer, to each General Assembly from 2015 through 2019 on our Association’s progress on the above resolutions.

  786 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Vincent Pawlowski
• 

  Saarbrücker Geld sozial-ökologisch, zukunftsfähig anlegen!

  Begründung Die Umsetzung der Fossil Free Resolutionen ist eine Investition in die Zukunft - für die Stabilität unserer Ökosysteme, für den Zusammenhalt in unserer Gesellschaft, für den Ausbau von guten Arbeitsplätzen in nachhaltigen und gemeinwohlfördernden Sektoren, für die Gesundheit, Freiheit und das Glück dieser und der nächsten Generationen - egal welcher sozialen oder geografischen Herkunft. Die Wissenschaft ist klar: Die globale Gemeinschaft - jedoch insbesondere die industrialisierten Länder - muss den Temperaturanstieg auf 1,5° C begrenzen. Nur so kann der Zusammenbruch der Ökosysteme aufgehalten werden. Ein höherer Temperaturanstieg riskiert das Überleben von Gemeinschaften im Globalen Süden schon heute und letztlich der gesamten menschlichen Zivilisation in naher Zukunft. Gleichzeitig gehören die immer weiter klaffende Schere zwischen Arm und Reich und die Vertreibung einer wachsenden Zahl von Menschen aus ihren Heimatländern durch die Klimakrise und die Destabilisierung von Staaten und Regionen zu den drängendsten Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Die Fossil Free Resolution fordert Städte, Kreise und Kommunen auf, den wirtschaftlichen und ökologischen Wandel voranzutreiben, um den Kollaps unserer Gesellschaften und Ökosysteme zu verhindern. Die Last dieses Übergangs darf dabei nicht auf den Schultern ökonomisch oder strukturell benachteiligter Bevölkerungsschichten, alter und junger Menschen, Schwarzer Menschen und Menschen of Color, Menschen mit Fluchterfahrung, Queerer Menschen, Menschen mit Behinderungen, Menschen die an fossilen Abbaugebieten leben, Menschen, die im fossilen Sektor oder im direkten Kontakt mit der Natur arbeiten oder den Menschen im Globalen Süden liegen. Tiefgreifender Wandel ist nur möglich, wenn eine beispiellose Zusammenarbeit auf allen Ebenen stattfindet. Der gerechte Übergang wird nicht von oben nach unten erfolgen. Er wird vor allen Dingen von betroffenen Menschen, engagierten Bürger*innen und Gemeinden vorangetrieben. Dies bietet die große Chance, unsere Gesellschaft zu mehr Gemeinwohl zu führen, von Wachstumslogik und Konkurrenz Abstand zu nehmen und ein solidarisches Miteinander zu fördern. Das kann gelingen, wenn Erfolg künftig an steigendem globalen, gesellschaftlichen Wohlbefinden und ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit und nicht an Wachstum von Unternehmensprofiten und Bruttoinlandsprodukt gemessen wird.

  4 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Jonas Heintz