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'Age of Burn What You Like' is Over: UN Makes Landmark Call for Divestment
Mar 15, 2015
The United Nations body charged with guiding and implementing international climate policy has thrown its weight behind the growing fossil fuel divestment movement, lending "moral authority" to a campaign aimed at stemming global warming, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
"We support divestment as it sends a signal to companies, especially coal companies, that the age of 'burn what you like, when you like' cannot continue," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
World leaders are meeting this December in Paris to hammer out a sweeping, international climate agreement.
"Everything we do is based on science and the science is pretty clear that we need a world with a lot less fossil fuels," Nuttall told the Guardian. "We have lent our own moral authority as the UN to those groups or organizations who are divesting. We are saying 'we support your aims and ambitions because they are fairly and squarely our ambition,' which is to get a good deal in Paris."
Climate activists like 350.org's Bill McKibben were pleased by the development:
However, Oscar Reyes, of the Institute for Policy Studies, urged the UNFCCC to avoid hypocrisy with its own Green Climate Fund--established to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change:
As last month's Global Divestment Day demonstrated, the call to divest from the fossil fuel industry is spreading.
According to Bloomberg, Oxford University will consider on Monday "whether to become the most prominent academic institution to join a growing movement in favor of divesting from publicly traded fossil fuel companies."
And Divest Harvard is gearing up for a week of divestment actions in April, calling on Harvard University to:
- immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies;
- immediately divest direct holdings (currently $19.6 million) from the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies;
- divest indirect holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies within 5 years, and reinvest in socially responsible funds.
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This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The United Nations body charged with guiding and implementing international climate policy has thrown its weight behind the growing fossil fuel divestment movement, lending "moral authority" to a campaign aimed at stemming global warming, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
"We support divestment as it sends a signal to companies, especially coal companies, that the age of 'burn what you like, when you like' cannot continue," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
World leaders are meeting this December in Paris to hammer out a sweeping, international climate agreement.
"Everything we do is based on science and the science is pretty clear that we need a world with a lot less fossil fuels," Nuttall told the Guardian. "We have lent our own moral authority as the UN to those groups or organizations who are divesting. We are saying 'we support your aims and ambitions because they are fairly and squarely our ambition,' which is to get a good deal in Paris."
Climate activists like 350.org's Bill McKibben were pleased by the development:
However, Oscar Reyes, of the Institute for Policy Studies, urged the UNFCCC to avoid hypocrisy with its own Green Climate Fund--established to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change:
As last month's Global Divestment Day demonstrated, the call to divest from the fossil fuel industry is spreading.
According to Bloomberg, Oxford University will consider on Monday "whether to become the most prominent academic institution to join a growing movement in favor of divesting from publicly traded fossil fuel companies."
And Divest Harvard is gearing up for a week of divestment actions in April, calling on Harvard University to:
- immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies;
- immediately divest direct holdings (currently $19.6 million) from the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies;
- divest indirect holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies within 5 years, and reinvest in socially responsible funds.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The United Nations body charged with guiding and implementing international climate policy has thrown its weight behind the growing fossil fuel divestment movement, lending "moral authority" to a campaign aimed at stemming global warming, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
"We support divestment as it sends a signal to companies, especially coal companies, that the age of 'burn what you like, when you like' cannot continue," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
World leaders are meeting this December in Paris to hammer out a sweeping, international climate agreement.
"Everything we do is based on science and the science is pretty clear that we need a world with a lot less fossil fuels," Nuttall told the Guardian. "We have lent our own moral authority as the UN to those groups or organizations who are divesting. We are saying 'we support your aims and ambitions because they are fairly and squarely our ambition,' which is to get a good deal in Paris."
Climate activists like 350.org's Bill McKibben were pleased by the development:
However, Oscar Reyes, of the Institute for Policy Studies, urged the UNFCCC to avoid hypocrisy with its own Green Climate Fund--established to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change:
As last month's Global Divestment Day demonstrated, the call to divest from the fossil fuel industry is spreading.
According to Bloomberg, Oxford University will consider on Monday "whether to become the most prominent academic institution to join a growing movement in favor of divesting from publicly traded fossil fuel companies."
And Divest Harvard is gearing up for a week of divestment actions in April, calling on Harvard University to:
- immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies;
- immediately divest direct holdings (currently $19.6 million) from the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies;
- divest indirect holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies within 5 years, and reinvest in socially responsible funds.
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