SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Tutu: Climate Crisis Demands 'Anti-Apartheid-Style Boycott' of Fossil Fuel Industry
Nobel laureate says 'people of conscience' must break ties with oil and gas companies that are destroying planet's future
Apr 10, 2014
Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu is saying their is no longer any excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to fight climate change and called on Thursday for an international "anti-apartheid-style boycott" against the fossil fuel industry.
In a striking essay and call to action in the Guardian newspaper, Tutu writes: "People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change."
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future. To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands." --Desmond Tutu
As examples, Tutu said people can and should boycott events, sports teams and media outlets sponsored by oil and gas companies. He also touted divestment by municipalities and universities have broken ties with the industry and called for public health warnings against products associated with the carbon-reliant economy.
"We cannot necessarily bankrupt the fossil fuel industry," said Tutu. "But we can take steps to reduce its political clout, and hold those who rake in the profits accountable for cleaning up the mess."
The Guardian's environment correspondent Damian Carrington reports:
The Archbishop's intervention, timed ahead of Sunday's UN report, is the strongest yet in a rapidly growing global campaign against oil, gas and coal companies that is uniting campaigners against global warming with major financial institutions seeking to avoid a trillion-dollar crash in fossil fuel stocks. A leaked draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states investment in fossil fuels must start falling by tens of billions a year to avoid dangerous levels of warming.
The good news, according to Tutu, is that a divestment campaign is already underway, having started 18 months ago in the US. Since then, it has grown even faster than those that targeted apartheid, tobacco and arms manufacturers, according to research from the University of Oxford.
The research showed past divestment campaigns succeeded by stigmatising their targets - which Tutu calls "moral pressure" - as well as exerting financial pressure.
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future," concluded Tutu in his missive to the world. "To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands."
____________________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu is saying their is no longer any excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to fight climate change and called on Thursday for an international "anti-apartheid-style boycott" against the fossil fuel industry.
In a striking essay and call to action in the Guardian newspaper, Tutu writes: "People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change."
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future. To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands." --Desmond Tutu
As examples, Tutu said people can and should boycott events, sports teams and media outlets sponsored by oil and gas companies. He also touted divestment by municipalities and universities have broken ties with the industry and called for public health warnings against products associated with the carbon-reliant economy.
"We cannot necessarily bankrupt the fossil fuel industry," said Tutu. "But we can take steps to reduce its political clout, and hold those who rake in the profits accountable for cleaning up the mess."
The Guardian's environment correspondent Damian Carrington reports:
The Archbishop's intervention, timed ahead of Sunday's UN report, is the strongest yet in a rapidly growing global campaign against oil, gas and coal companies that is uniting campaigners against global warming with major financial institutions seeking to avoid a trillion-dollar crash in fossil fuel stocks. A leaked draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states investment in fossil fuels must start falling by tens of billions a year to avoid dangerous levels of warming.
The good news, according to Tutu, is that a divestment campaign is already underway, having started 18 months ago in the US. Since then, it has grown even faster than those that targeted apartheid, tobacco and arms manufacturers, according to research from the University of Oxford.
The research showed past divestment campaigns succeeded by stigmatising their targets - which Tutu calls "moral pressure" - as well as exerting financial pressure.
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future," concluded Tutu in his missive to the world. "To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands."
____________________________________
Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu is saying their is no longer any excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to fight climate change and called on Thursday for an international "anti-apartheid-style boycott" against the fossil fuel industry.
In a striking essay and call to action in the Guardian newspaper, Tutu writes: "People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change."
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future. To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands." --Desmond Tutu
As examples, Tutu said people can and should boycott events, sports teams and media outlets sponsored by oil and gas companies. He also touted divestment by municipalities and universities have broken ties with the industry and called for public health warnings against products associated with the carbon-reliant economy.
"We cannot necessarily bankrupt the fossil fuel industry," said Tutu. "But we can take steps to reduce its political clout, and hold those who rake in the profits accountable for cleaning up the mess."
The Guardian's environment correspondent Damian Carrington reports:
The Archbishop's intervention, timed ahead of Sunday's UN report, is the strongest yet in a rapidly growing global campaign against oil, gas and coal companies that is uniting campaigners against global warming with major financial institutions seeking to avoid a trillion-dollar crash in fossil fuel stocks. A leaked draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states investment in fossil fuels must start falling by tens of billions a year to avoid dangerous levels of warming.
The good news, according to Tutu, is that a divestment campaign is already underway, having started 18 months ago in the US. Since then, it has grown even faster than those that targeted apartheid, tobacco and arms manufacturers, according to research from the University of Oxford.
The research showed past divestment campaigns succeeded by stigmatising their targets - which Tutu calls "moral pressure" - as well as exerting financial pressure.
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future," concluded Tutu in his missive to the world. "To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands."
____________________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.